A to Z Challenge

Tomorrow begins the April A to Z blogging challenge.




This year I am doing it not just once, but twice.
I have signed up my other blog, The Freedom of Nonbelief, to the challenge as well.
I felt that my other blog could also gain from the exposure and it would help me collect my thoughts some on what I think that blog should be about.
So please join me over there as I go through the A to Z of atheism, skepticism and free thought.

Here at the Other Side, I am going to be doing the A to Z of RPGs. I am going to pick a game for each letter and talk about it. I am though having trouble with the letter I. I am thinking I should do In Nomine, but not sure yet.

I am open to suggestions!

If you are coming here from the Challenge, then please leave a link back to your own blog.

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Zatannurday: Marvel Heroic Roleplaying

Continuing my exploration of the new Marvel Heroic Roleplaying game. So here is everyone's favorite Sorceress Supreme, it's Saturday it must be Zatanna!

We worked this the same night as Justice.  Again, I am happy with this build and see it as a nice compliment to the DCA/M&M3 stats.   Both have a place in my world.

Name: Zatanna
ID: Zatanna Zatara (public)

Affiliations: Solo d10, Buddy d8, Team d6 (Zee is not a team player, but she has teamed up with John Constantine, Hawkman and Batman)

Distinctions:
Most Power Magician in the World (she is. And all the supernatural baddies know it too)
Celebrity in the Spotlight (Everyone knows who she is and she likes that)
Shades of Grey (Zee sees more grey than most Supers, even ones in the Marvel-verse)

Power Sets
Magic/Sorcery d12
Magical Spells d12, Blast d10, Senses (magical) d10, Teleport d10
Limit: Must be spoken backwards
SFX: Tantric Healing (can reduce stress)
SFX: Area Attack

Specialties 
Mystic d10 (pretty much knows it all)
Cosmic d10
Menace d8
Psych d8

Milestones
"Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic"
1xp You uncover some plot that is magical in nature.
3xp You discover some new magical tome or artifact.
10xp You defeat the main villain without magic.

Daddy Issues
1xp You meet someone from your father's past.
3xp You take trauma from one of your father's old enemies or friends.
10 xp You must send your father's soul back to the afterlife to defeat the bad guy.

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What Does D&D Sound Like?

What Does D&D Sound like?










D&D sounds like Dio.

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Justice: Marvel Heroic Roleplaying

Earlier this week I mentioned I spent some time over the last month with Marvel Heroic Roleplaying.  One of the first characters I though about was my paragon character "Justice".

The great thing about Justice is I have a great grasp on who this character is, what motivates her and what she wants to be.  So a game like MHR is really a good fit.  Plus is gives me the chance to compare her "Marvel" universe counterpart with her "DC Universe" counterpart.

For Issue 5 I spoke to my regular GM Greg, the guy likely to be the GM of any supers game I'll play in and my go to guy for Marvel questions, suggested an adventure where Kara travels to Madripoor.  Kara is there as part of a delegation with one of her law professors.  Her role here is of course to be quiet and learn.  Bet you know how that is going to turn out.

Since we are going to focus on the drama here Greg wanted to give her a love interest, one of the local criminals (whose name escapes me at the moment, but I think it was Wolverine's son).

So with out further ado, here is Justice.

Name: Justice
ID: Astra Kal-El / Astra Kent (secret)

Affiliations: Solo d10, Buddy d6, Team d8 (Kara is still trying to figure out who she is and she is doing that on her own.)

Distinctions: Uncompromising (sees the world in mostly black & white; good guys and bad guys)
Heroic Ambition (wants to be a hero)
Struggling with Identity (is she Amazon? Kryptonian? something new? How can she fit into a human world?)

Power Sets
Amazonian Heritage d10
Superhuman Strength d10, Superhuman Durability d10, Superhuman Stamina d10
Limit: Exausting
SFX: Multipower
SFX: Second Chance (reroll)
(she is still coming into her power)

Kryptonian Heritage d8
Superhuman Senses d8, Flight (subsonic) d8, Blast (heat vision) d8
Limit: Kryptonite - Shutdown
SFX: Second Wind (move power up to d10)
SFX: Invulnerable (spend 1pp)

Specialties 
Combat d10 (training from the Amazons and Bruce/Batman)
Cosmic d10
Crime d8
Science d8

Milestones
Just like Mom and Dad...
1xp You encounter someone that knew your father
3xp You defeat one of your father's or mother's old enemies.
10xp You join or leave a team that your parents were on.

"Justice will Prevail!"
1xp You save an innocent life
3xp You must make a choice between the Law and Justice
10 xp You choose to see justice done at the expense of your own personal happiness.
 

I think this describes her rather well to be honest.  And it is something I could use to help drive the character in any other Supers game she might be in.

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White Dwarf Wednesday #10

I little late, but still Wednesday!

Issue 10 starts us off with some fantastic cover art.  Maybe the best we have seen so far.  It unites the two themes of Sci-fi and Fantasy well.

The editorial is a mix bunch, attendance at Game Day and the release of the new AD&D Player's Handbook and the late release date of the new "AD&D Referee's Guide".  Doesn't really have the same ring to it as DMG does it.
Plus the shipping costs of WD overseas is going up due to the fall of the Dollar.  Must have been the Carter Era.

We have some new magic items for Tekumel.
Nine new monsters for Fiend Facotry, of which only one graduated to the Fiend Folio.  The others though are worth looking at.  In particular a couple of interesting skeletons and a couple of cats.

Some traps sent in by readers.  I have never been over enamored with traps. They have their place, but I never fetishized them like other players/game masters.

As promised we have a collection of letters on realism in the game.  These are the same arguments that we have today, so I guess we will always have them.

Next up is a combat simulation/duel game called "Light Sword".  Which were light sabers with the serial numbers filled off.  It looks interesting enough and could be used with any sort of melee combat.  The thing I thought was odd was the art.  The first is a man's face with a nondescript sword next to it, the next one is a topless woman in a loin-cloth with two "light daggers".  The artist took the time to make sure her breasts were properly shaded, but her hair is just an outline.  Not sure what was the though process on this one.

Open Box this issues gives us the boxed set of Gamma World (9/10) and the AD&D Player's Handbook (10/10).  Worth the read just get that feeling again when everything was new.

More on the Experienced Traveller by Mike Ferguson. Chapter 3 of the Valley of the four Winds follows.
We end the issue with 7 pages of ads.  The most so far.

Not a stellar issue, but a solid one.  The Fiend Factory continues to give me entertainment and I am thinking a Fiend Folio 2 of updated monsters that didn't make the cut would be a fantastic fan-book.

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My Month with Marvel

I have now had Marvel Heroic Roleplaying now for about a month.  I have read it. Re-read it. Watched games, read reviews and even detailed some characters.  Here are my thoughts.

First, I have to be honest, I am still and probably always be a DC fan foremost.  I "dabbled" in Marvel back in the 80's like others.  I enjoyed the X-Men, loved Spider-Man, enjoyed Doctor Strange and Ghost Rider...and that was about it.  I didn't have any dislike for Marvel, I just like DC better.
I enjoyed the old TSR Marvel game, but I also liked DC Heroes from Mayfair and Villains and Vigilantes.

Secondly, MHR is about as far away from the OSR as you can possibly get and still use the same set of dice.

Ok. So there are a lot of reviews out for this now, and there is really nothing new I can add to all of that.  Here is though less of a review and more of a bunch of my opinions and insights on the game.

The most notable feature of this game is there is nothing in the way of comparing ability to ability really.  Yes there are things like "combat expert" and there levels of that, but nothing along the lines of Strength vs. Strength  So there is no way to tell really who would win in an arm wrestling Thor or Thing.  But the deal is that this not something that is likely to happen UNLESS it was part of the plot, then the winner is decided by other things.

MHR is more of a game where the players are providing the framework.  You need to create your character with the other characters and players in mind.  Maybe not as much as Smallville or Leverage, but still.  It is also a game where the main drama is about heroes, not really supers.  It really is a "comic book" RPG, not a cartoon, supers or even super hero movie RPG. This game is about building characters, the relationships between them and the drama. Which, if you think about it, is kinda what Marvel Comics is about.

The game moves well from what I have seen in play and after working with your character you get the hang of the game quickly.

The book itself is great to look at, but I was expecting more to be honest.  Compare to Green Ronin's DC book.  The DCA is overflowing with art.  Everywhere.  MHR has art, but it seems to use it more sparingly.  Plus I swear it was the same characters over and over. I could easily name dozens of character I didn't see, but that is not the point, I would have liked some others.
I would have liked to Dr. Strange or some other magical/mystical types since that is my favorite part of any game and Marvel in particular. Strange at least is important enough that he should be included in the Basic rules.

Will I play this game?
That is really the only question right? Yes, I love to try it out with the right group. To me the right group would be people who are willing to invest in their characters and be able to "play the drama".  So yes, with the right group of people.

Still I might want to dual stat characters with MHR and some other traditional supers game, maybe even DCA/M&M3.

I'll be posting some characters here soon.

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Some Updates ...

Hi guys, before I realised, this blog has been inactive for more than 10 days already.

I apologise in advance but I've just been busy with life and my own cosplays. Yes, I just suck at multi tasking and dressmaking =\ I guess I'm feeling pretty burnt out too. My head says yes but my body says no, LOL.

Nevertheless, I just had a Lovely Complex Photoshoot so look forward to the photographs soon! The costume's pretty simple but if you guys want, I might do a tutorial sort of blog entry about the costume and make up. Those of you who have been following TheCosplayChronicles on Facebook would know of my obsession with makeup and looking like a man these few days xD

This is one of the trial Special Effects makeup I did. Virtual love for anyone who can guess which character this is mimicking!

Also, it is confirmed that I'm going to SMASH! Sydney Manga and Anime Show this July! After much agony and self debates, I finally bought my Plane tickets so now, it's towards a no-retreat route! Hope to see you guys at the event ^_^!

And that's not the last travel/event I will be going this year. Which means my wallet is crying out loud for mercy now = \ Help me click on the ads T_T

Either way, see you guys soon!

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On the Road

On the road at the moment. Will post later today if I can.

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Zatannurday: Fred Hembeck

Today I have a special treat. Not only something original, but something inspired by Zatannurday!

Look at what I got!

It's a Fred Hembeck original!

I got this as a gift from George Vasliakos, the editor and Zombie Lord at Eden Studios.  He got this for me because he knows I am a big Zatanna fan and this weekly feature!

That is really awesome!

So thanks George and thanks Fred!

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Vastra and Jenny

Been thinking some more about Vastra and Jenny.

I did some posts back when "A Good Man Goes to War" first aired.
Introduction and Ghosts of Albion stats.
Doctor Who RPG stats

I have found some very cool links recently that expand their story more.
Vastra and Jenny

I have a Ghosts of Albion game coming up and I'd love to work them in somehow.  Just not sure how to do that yet.  Especially since the idea I have in mind is already dangerously close to "The Hungry Earth" except I am basing it of of a real riot that happened in London in 1846.

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Redesigning a wig

I haven’t styled too many wigs during my cosplay career. Years ago I somehow came to a conclusion that it was difficult, messy and altogether a long process. It became something I consciously avoided…until recently. After styling two wigs in one week with major style change, I can finally trash my prejudices. It’s not hard and it doesn’t take hours after hours. All that is required is some clean table space and patience. Maybe that is the trick; I might have become more patient. 

First thing was to raid our closet, which somehow has been invaded by costumes and other supplies. I grabbed one of my many second-hand wigs. (Greetings to all the Finnish cosplayers who kindly pass on their old wigs at Aniki!) The wig is nice quality, but pretty thin on the back like some long wigs tend to be. In my case it wasn’t a problem since I was making a short one. I tied the fibers on a ponytail and cut it off to be used as thickening wefts. Since I had still some burgundy fibers left, I mixed them in as highlights.
 

The wefts I made by sewing the fibers on black iron-on interfacing. I hand stitched the wefts on the wig; five rows on the back and four overlapping ones on the front. With that amount I was able to hide the base web, which was ivory. I repeat, ivory on dark purple wig. Someone’s brain has seriously farted.

The back flips and the small top crest I shaped using hairspray and a blow dryer. Following is the process in pictures. I apologize about the varying quality of the photos. I only had my old digital camera with me. But then again you can follow the day turn to night and to the next morning.

Wig in its original length.

Roughtly cut and wefts added on the back.

More wefts and styling started with feathering the ends.

First back flip in making.

Back done.

Shaping the top crest.

Styling complete.

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Walking to Mordor

Go to Google Maps.

For your starting point enter "The Shire", for your destination enter "Mordor".
Change to Walking and get directions.

It works for Rivendell too.

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Blog Roll Fixed

The simple solution was to split up my blog rolls.
You will now see I have an RPG one and an Everything Else one that has all the writing, horror, comic and other stuff I read.

My RPG one though is now just as full as it was before, so even if it is an RPG site chances are I'll have to add you to the other blog roll.

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Another new Blog on the block

Jason Vey of Spellcraft & Swordplay, has a new blog out for movie reviews.

Overpriced Popcorn: Film Reviews for the Rest of Us!
http://overpricedpopcorn.blogspot.com/ 

You can read his introductory post on what he plans to do with and why.
It promises to be very interesting.  Jason and I talk about movies all the time and while we don't always agree, the conversation is never dull.

So check out this new blog and tell your friends.

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Blog Roll

You might notice my blog roll is gone.
I am attempting to fix it and add the new blogs I am following and maybe even arrange them in some sort of order.

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White Dwarf Wednesday Issue 9

Issue 9 of White Dwarf nearly finishes up the transitional year of 1978.  We saw a lot of changes int he magazine in the last year and there are still more to come.

In another editorial that seems taken from today's blogs or posting boards is the amount of "Realism" people want in their game.  So much so in fact that they opted to withhold their letters page till next issue since so many were on the topic of realism.

Mike Ferguson gives us some new skills and rules for Traveller. The Fiend Factory is up and running again with FF faves such as the Svart and Umpleby.  Ok, faves might be too strong of a word. There are half a dozen monsters here that didn't make the cut for the Fiend Folio and I have been wondering if there is enough here to make a "Fiend Folio 2" that never was.  Let me think about that one.

Another instalment of "Valley of the Four Winds".
A mini-dungeon "The Lichway" for 6-8 1st level characters which looks like a blast.  Interestingly enough one of the monsters introduced is the Susurrus.  This monster will also later go on to join his Fiend Factory cousins in the Fiend Folio.  The art used is identical (what what I can remember). And later go on to influence this author on a magic item.

Kalgar is back and takes an odd twist. The adventures of Kalgar are no more than the dreams of some man and watched on some sort of high-tech viewscreen by another man and woman.  Not sure where this is going yet.

Open Box gives reviews on Superhero 44 by Lou Zocchi and Legions of the Petal Throne from TSR.  We are also treated to reviews of G1, G2 and G3 which get a 9/10 from Don Turnbull. Finally Judges guild gives us Citadel of Fire (6/10).

We get a new class in the form of the Foresters for Chivalry & Sorcery.

Treasure Chest is a mixed bag of some traps, useless items and instant ability scores for monsters.
The issue wraps up with a couple pages of ads.

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White Dwarf Wednesday...

Will be happening later today.  Got stuck in meetings all morning long.

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Itching for the Tomb of Horrors

As I posted yesterday my son is going to get to play some of the classic greats, B1, B2, and X1. This along with the idea that 4e is on the wane and 5e coming up, I don't really need to complete my 3.x game just yet.  Plus there are still so many classics I want to play again.

So my kids' characters are at 20th level.  I was thinking that I could take the Tomb of Horrors (3.5 revision), link in some of the ideas (and maps) from the 4e version.  Add some monsters from the Tome of Horrors complete edition and just through it all together in a meat grinder.

They have already gone through S2 and S4 (not sure about S3 yet)

It really could be awesome.

It is one of the all time greats.  And even though the characters are twice the level, I would make it a little deadlier.  Plus a lot of this adventure is really based on Player skill and not Character skill.  My kids are still younger than the average player of this adventure, so the greater power characters might be offset by that alone.

Interestingly enough, this is the only adventure I know of that has has official products for each edition of D&D.

So kind of a no-brainer really.

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Kinda jealous of my son right now...

My oldest son, in addition to playing a 3.x game with me and my younger son, plays "D&D" every Saturday for about 3 hours.

He is playing with my sometimes DM, sometimes player, Greg, his sons and a couple of other kids all between the ages of 11 and 12.

You can read about those games on Greg's blog: http://rhoninsramblings.blogspot.com/

They are playing ACKS right now and my son loves it.  He likes that it is so old school and there are not a bunch of rules he needs to play.  But they are going to do B1 and B2 and maybe even X1.

How much better can that be really?

Anyway, go to Greg's blog and you can be jealous too.

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Marvel Maybe??

I'd love to get some posts in this week about Marvel Heroic Roleplay.

I have a bunch of things ready to go, I just need to post them.

In the meantime, here is another review.
http://stuffershack.com/make-mine-marvel/

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Trollolollolol

Well, I didn’t finish the red wig… But I might as well reveal that the costumes we are certainly going to make this year are female trolls from World of Warcraft. They weren’t mentioned in the post where I revolved around costume plans for this year. To be frank, I might as well delete the whole post because the content isn’t anyhow correct anymore. It seems that I’m at work for whole holiday season. So it's no for going to conventions or at least for two days, which means no competitions as they usually are held at Saturdays.

You’d think that I would be a wreck, but I’m not! I’m too excited about our trolls. They are going to be our characters for Tracon’s show competition, if that kind of contest is part of the repertory. Plans changed also on that front, because our original plan was to use characters from Star Wars universe. Not a bad switch, I’d say. Wow characters are certainly more familiar to the audience in roleplay/anime convention and show class gives nice freedom with the costume design and construction.

The construction part offers again new methods and materials. We are going to take our time and hopefully get the costumes in presentable stage in the summer. What I’ve noticed with some Wow cosplayers, the costumes are never really finished. They just keep upgrading, like in the game.

The red wig I presented in the previous entry was mine. Thanks to a nice flow I got going on yesterday evening, Yoki’s wig was finished just few hours ago. As my high tail up-do reached over my shoulders, I decided to make Yoki’s wig short.

It still needs some trimming and styling on the sides, but it has to wait because for that I need Yoki's head. The bone necklace is also something I made yesterday from leftover Das clay. The feathers were the result of an experimental dyeing process with disinfectant... Weird.

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Game Day

Well.  I went to game day today but only had one person show up.
Still though I had a good time.  Got to chat with some people, got to buy some minis and check out some new games.

I am looking forward to the next EN World game day and I hope tosee you all there.

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Zatannurday: Justice League Dark, the first 5

Switching from Young Justice Zatanna to the more mature and tattooed Justice League Dark Zatanna.

Justice League Dark concluded it's first story arc, the threat of Enchnatress and the mystery of June Moon. 

Tattoos and a chain wallet?

To be honest I liked it.  I like the idea that sometimes there is crap out there so scary that even the Justice League is incapable of dealing with it.  That it takes a misfit group like this to deal with it.

Lets be honest here.  This is a messed up group.  I am not sure if Enchnatress will be a regular, but there are signs pointing to that.  If so she might be more powerful than Zee.
Zatanna, in this incarnation seems to be bit over her daddy issues.  Course that doesn't mean she is all healthy either.  She tells Constantine that she wants to erase his memory when he uses one of her own spells, which of course gets to predictable response.  She is not wearing her classical outfit and she has more than one tattoo on her.
Speaking of John. He seems younger here, but we assume that everything about him that was true before is still true now.  He doesn't have any magic himself, but knows a couple of tricks.  Still smokes.  I am not a fan of smoking, but I am glad they didn't take that away.   This is not the Hellblazer Constantine, but he is close.  My fear is he will become the "Spike" of this bunch.
I am not sold yet on Shade or Mindwarp.  But man do they have potential.  I like how Shade, who's power is to reshape reality, only has a basic grip on reality himself.  Mindwarp is just a couple shades of grey away from being a villain himself I think.
Deadman is really the only "hero" in the bunch.  I liked his character more here than any other time I have read him (mostly in Batman).
Madame Xanadu is a treat.  She has power and sees the future.  I like how she sees it all the time and has to numb herself with pills just to get through the day.

She doesn't look dangerous.

As a book, well I am enjoying writer Peter Milligan's work but think he needs to do a better job with why this group has to deal with the problems they have and will face. The art by Mikel Janin is actually top notch.  So few comic book artists draw women well, though they do keep on doing it.  These are not the paragon of superpowers, so they are drawn like normal people (well except Deadman).  Plus the scenes are great.  When Shade looses his grip on reality and his M-vest reacts it is just cool to see.

My hope is that JLD will become something more akin to the supernatural and occult comics from the 70s.
I also have to admit that this group would be a fun one to stat up for Marvel Heroic Roleplaying.

If I have a complaint it is that the story building was so slow.  I understand that there were a lot of characters we had to be introduced too and give enough of their back story, but I think the pace should have been faster.  That being said it was all still a great read and now that we have the characters in place I am hoping for even more.

I have not read #6 yet, but I understand the next big story is building.

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I think I need one of these

A pop-o-matic d20.

You can get yours here:
http://www.etsy.com/listing/95300176/pop-able-d20?utm_source=OpenGraph&utm_medium=PageTools&utm_campaign=Share

I might need to get one of these.

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Dark Shadows

Oh Angelique...still doing bad things to bad people.  It looks campy as all hell, but damn I want to see it.

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Blended wefts and high ponytail

I didn’t remember that making wefts was so easy! I really surprised myself with them and with my old wig, which actually has been featured in our blog. Here is the link to my previous post. In short, we dropped the costumes I had planned the wig for. Over a year and a half ago I just shoved the wig into my closet and almost forgot all about it. Until this morning that is, when I looked it up thrilled and motivated to re-style it. I got free day from work and because we had discussed about our costume plans with Yoki last weekend, I decided to start on that front. And this is what I got done today.

Oh, a shovel!

I’m really, really pleased with the wig. I made some blended wefts from the long ponytail I had cut off the wig mixed with burgundy red fibers, also remnants from last decade. I’m not going to write about making wefts, there is many tutorials about them in the web, but I’m going to give a hint to those who find tulle hard to work with. Use iron-on interfacing. Stitch the fibers on the glue side and when you have trimmed the excess carefully iron the interfacing between a piece pattern paper. I fried few fibers, luckily they aren’t visible.

Wefts on base before cutting...

...and after.

Next to making and sewing wefts, I cut the wig so that the extensions blend in. I feathered the wig quite heavily, but made it look chunky, like if it had been cut with a knife. Almost nothing went to waste; what I had cut, I rolled and teased into dreadlocks, which I then attached right back where they came from. The bangs keep their shape thanks to hairspray.


I still need to attach the ponytail properly. When I’ve done that, I will come back and possibly reveal what costume I’m actually making.

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New Blog

I have started up a new blog.

I wanted a place where I could talk about some things that really would not be in place here.  Namely my views on various world political topics, science advocacy and my atheism.

The Freedom of Nonbelief
http://freedomofnonbelief.blogspot.com/ 

You can read what it is all about in the posts there, but here is the selling blurb.

A blog about skepticism, atheism and the freedom of not believing in irrational or magical thoughts. I am not going to use this blog to attack religions, but instead talk about how throwing of the mental shackles off belief has been a freeing experience.

I seriously doubt there will be crossover between The Freedom of Nonbelief and The Other Side. But one never really knows.

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Costume Interview: Heishiro Mitsurugi (Soul Calibur 4)

Drefano http://drefano.deviantart.com/

Here we are again with another Costume interview video! Much thanks to Drefano for obliging the interview! My apologies if the special effects at the beginning was a tad bit tacky. I kind of screwed up the camera works so that was my way of covering up.

This interview was actually filmed during Cosfest 2010 *palms* . I am so sorry to Drefano (and the other Cosplayers I interviewed T_T) for dragging this long but 2010 - 2011 was an unbelievably busy period for me.

Anyway, I’m really excited to have the chance to interview and feature this Cosplayer today. As a Cosplayer, Drefano stands out from the crowd with his muscular physique and choice of characters. Mostly seen portraying characters who shares his built, Drefano is like a Gamer Fan’s hero come to life. His unique addition to the community definitely adds a much welcomed variety. Because let’s face it, too much kawaii girls and bishounens can get boring.

Also admirable is the dedication to crafting this guy clearly exhibits. Check out the interview video to learn some Costume tips from him!

Drefano cosplaying as Jecht from Final Fantasy X

Here’s a clip of him dancing to “Nobody” while cosplaying as Jecht xD

I hope you guys enjoyed the interview, leave me a comment and share your opinions. And remember to check out Drefano’s Deviantart gallery!

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Don't Forget!

EN World Game Day Chicago is this weekend!

Celebrate St. Patrick's Day by coming to the the aid of Ireland in her darkest hour.


Ghosts of Albion: Blight

Ireland is dying. 
Her Protector has been murdered and you are the primary suspects. Can you clear your name, regain your magic and stop whatever necromancies befoul the land? Time is short, yours and one million lives hang in the balance. Set in 1847 this is an adventure for the Ghosts of Albion RPG.

Game System: Cinematic Unisystem
Rules Edition: Ghosts of Albion
Players: Minimum 5, Max 8.
Minimum Age: Teen (13+) (PG for some violence, and problem solving)
Experience Required: None (never played before), some knowledge of "Ghosts of Albion" is helpful.
Materials Provided:  Yes, materials are provided for this game. You do not need to bring your own.  One d10 is needed.

There is a sign-up thread over at EN World, http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-discussion/319338-chicago-gameday-31-3-17-sign-up-play.html



And because I can.
One of my favorite Irish "rebel" songs.

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White Dwarf Wednesday Issue 8

Back at it!  Sorry for that.

White Dwarf #8 came out Aug/Sept of 1978.  The cover art for this is really cool.  I am not sure what is going on here, but it is cool and very evocative of what I feel was D&D at the time.
The editorial laments that there are so few gaming companies overseas, especially in England and Europe.
There is a neat article on making your own monsters.  Not stats, but making models of monsters.  They skew heavy on recent additions from the Fiend Factory, but the Carrion Crawler is rather cool.  I personally never had the skills for these "arts and crafts" sort of articles.

The Fiend Factory introduces to future Fiend Folio entries such as the Tween and the Coffer Corpse.

Lew Pulsipher gives us a simple critical hit system.

The Man-Beast is a new class/race of half-human/half-animal characters.  It is very reminiscent of the Wolf Man or Jekyll and Hyde.   It is an interesting class, and one that as far as I know never had any traction.

In Open Box we have a rare treat.  A review of the first AD&D book ever, the AD&D Monster Manual.  It is described as hard cover, but with the option of getting a soft cover in the UK.  Had anyone else ever heard this before?  Don Turnbull gives it the highest praise.  This was the game changer.  The review is joined by "Space Marines" by Fan Tac Games, "Starships & Spacemen" by Fantasy Games Unlimited and "War of Wizards" by TSR.

Kalgar is down to half a page, while the letters are now a full page.
Rowland Flynn gives us our first bit of fiction in the form of "Valley of the Four Winds".  It is par for the time.  Fiction in White Dwarf and even Dragon was never my thing really.  A few pages later we get a line of miniatures based on the story.  There is more here than I know obviously.

We are given a couple of pages of classified ads and more ads.

All in all this a larger issue, but like issue 7 most of the new space is given over to ads.  Again, this is not a bad thing.  Then as now, I like to look at the ads.  The ads of Dragon have been loving detailed by James at Grognardia.  Someone really should do the same for the ads of WD.

For example have you seen this one before in Dragon?

Maybe you have, I haven't.  It looks awesome!
I think that is what enjoy the most going through these old White Dwarfs.  Everything was so new, so exciting.

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DriveThruRPG March Sale

Time for the DriveThruRPG monthly sale.

Here are the products you can get 20% off of:

SAWS+ Character Sheet [Dire Giraffe Publishing]
SAWS+ Character Sheet for Pathfinder [Dire Giraffe Publishing]
HELLAS: Princes of the Universe [Khepera Publishing]
Bard's Tales [Raging Swan Press]
Iconic Characters [Raging Swan Press]
So What's That Shiny Thing Like, Anyway? [Raging Swan Press]
Caladon Falls [Savage Mojo]
Castle Builder Volume 1: Strongholds [Skirmisher Publishing]

And here is the code to use: WhenIrishDiceAreRollin

This code is good until April 10th, 2012.

Enjoy!

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Random links

On the run today.  Many meetings and much ado to do.

So here are some links I have found useful in the last couple of days.

Running an alt-history game? Thinking of writing one?  Well here are some things to keep in mind.
IO9: 10 Worst Mistakes That Authors of Alternate History Make,
http://io9.com/5884879/10-worst-mistakes-that-authors-make-in-alternate-history

Want to learn more about the Marvel Heroic Roleplaying system?
Well here is the site to go to.
Exploring Infinity: Marvel Heroic Roleplaying: Collected Miscellanies
http://atminn.wordpress.com/2012/03/12/marvel-heroic-roleplaying-collected-miscellanies/

Elizabeth J Kolodziej is working on getting her next book published.
Send her a buck or two for "The Last Witch Series"
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1960643778/help-publish-the-last-witch-series

Speaking of which (or witch), Strange Music has a witch class up for B/X
http://strangemagic.robertsongames.com/2012/03/witch-for-bx-d.html

And speaking of Kickstarters, here is a blog that keeps track of all the RPG Kickstarter projects out there.
http://rpgkickstarters.tumblr.com/

I know posted this one before, but it is really cool.
Hi-res maps of the Caves of Chaos.
http://www.theweem.com/2012/02/01/caves-of-chaos-reimagined-by-weem/

Don't forget to sign up for Ghosts of Albion at Chicago Game Day!
http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-discussion/319338-chicago-gameday-31-3-17-sign-up-play.html

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Rurouni Kenshin Live Action Trailer

Yes, 2012 is a golden year! The live action adaptation of the highly popular and highly anticipated Anime/Manga "Rurouni Kenshin" is scheduled to screen this August! The 3rd quarter of 2012 is a happy season for us fans!

Here's some trailers to help the fangirl/boy in you last till then!

Official trailer

New trailer!

And some production photos!

I admit , I was pretty disappointed when Takeru Sato was announced as Kenshin. But it appears like I will be eating my words (happily) :D Trailers by far looks deadly *_*!

I just found out Takeru is 170cm tall XD *amused*

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Tiger & Bunny Animated film 2012

Yes, 2012 is a year of golden opportunities and this is especially true for Animanga fans! Remember this entry?  Heads up all Tiger & Bunny fans! TB's animated films is target to screen in the big screens this coming september!

"Sunrise producer Masayuki Ozaki confirmed on Sunday that his anime studio plans to screen the Tiger & Bunny film project in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Singapore simultaneously. He added that other regions (including Europe and the United States) are slated to be added afterwards.

 

Ozaki had just appeared with voice actor Masakazu Morita (Tiger & Bunny's Barnaby Brooks Jr.) at a Tiger & Bunny Special Talk Show event during the C3 expo in Hong Kong. Two other producers, Kazuhiko Tamura and Chika Matsui, revealed in Animage magazine on Saturday that the film project as a whole will have new characters, and the second film will have an entirely new story.

The first film from director Yoshitomo Yonetani will open in Japan in September. If possible, Tamura and Matsui would like to release the second film in 2013. "

Source: http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2012-03-11/producer/tiger-and-bunny-film-to-run-in-hk-taiwan-singapore

Screening simultaneously in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore =

Level: ASIAN

:D

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Anime Festival Asia (Malaysia) 2012 !

And this is the year dreams come true before we all die on 12th Dec 2012.

 

 

JUST KIDDING! So not buying the apocalypse thingy. I think it's probably near but not this year! Yes, I digressed. I'm sure most of you would have heard, the highly popular Anime Festival Asia event is going to Malaysia this june! Probably relenting to the countless request to move AFA to another country.

 

 

Date & Time: 9th - 10th June 20012

Location: Putra World Trade Centre (PWTC)

AFA FB: http://www.facebook.com/animefestivalasia

AFA12 : http://www.animefestival.asia/
AFA MY : http://www.animefestival.asia/my/

Should I apply for Media Pass ??? Would they give me =| ?

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EN World Game Day Chicago

I am going to be running a game at EN World Game Day Chicago!

I'll be running Ghosts of Albion: Blight. Seems appropriate given that Game Day this year in March 17.

Here is the blurb for the game:


Ghosts of Albion: Blight
Ireland is dying. 
Her Protector has been murdered and you are the primary suspects. Can you clear your name, regain your magic and stop whatever necromancies befoul the land? Time is short, yours and one million lives hang in the balance. Set in 1847 this is an adventure for the Ghosts of Albion RPG.

Game System: Cinematic Unisystem
Rules Edition: Ghosts of Albion
Players: Minimum 5, Max 8.
Minimum Age: Teen (13+) (PG for some violence, and problem solving)
Experience Required: None (never played before), some knowledge of "Ghosts of Albion" is helpful.
Materials Provided: Yes, materials are provided for this game. You do not need to bring your own.  One d10 is needed.

There is a sign-up thread over at EN World, http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-discussion/319338-chicago-gameday-31-3-17-sign-up-play.html

I have an afternoon slot 3:30pm to 8:30pm on Saturday, March 17 at Games Plus in Mount Prospect, IL.

Hope to see you there.
If you let me know that you found out about this by reading my blog then your character will get a free drama point!

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Question to OSR publishers and authors

I have been getting a couple of products ready to go for release and I am not getting the look and feel I want.

So a question to OSR publishing community from the professionals all the way over to the enthusiastic amateurs.

What desktop publishing/layout program do you all use?

I have tried a few myself including picking up a new one this weekend.  I am hoping to get some better results than what I have had been getting.

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J-Obsession 2011 @ The Cathay ( Cosplay photo pimps)

How many of you went to the IT Show last weekend? Well I did. went to the IT Show for my long desired Canon G12 and then popped by J-Obsession 2011 @ The Cathay since it was so nearby.

There was a Cosplay Competition happening when I was there. Most of the cosplayers who took part were singing =) I wish I knew who won.

Anyway, I’m sorry I don’t have as much photographs to show today. The event was really small and I found it really hard to ask for pictures. The shaded lighting conditions also made for blurry pictures =( Either way, enjoy!

		J-Obsession 2011 @ The Cathay ( Cosplay photo pimps) VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

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