engage thy brain

Reintroducing RPGShelf.com

Sun, 07 Jan 2007 04:11:09 GMT

Originally published at mysticages.com. You can comment here or there.

If you’re looking for webhosting, I’ve reopened RPGShelf.com webhosting. Over the past six months, we’ve switched servers for MysticAges.com, and I wanted to make sure the new webhosting accounts were working smoothly. Not only are they working smoothly, the new server is fast and ready to go. With a $30/year account, you get 700 MB of webspace, 5 Gb of bandwidth monthly, unlimited emails, unlimited domains, unlimited ftp, and more. All of this and you get the popular Control Panel, so you can fiddle with every aspect of the account… and you get Fantastico, which is a whole bunch of great web packages installed by a few clicks of your mouse (blogs, discussion forums, estores, etc.).

If you’re interested, click on over to http://www.rpgshelf.com/.

Plus, you can pick up a copy of Barbarians Versus while you’re at it. Nice, right?

New Dark Crystal Movie...

Wed, 03 Jan 2007 14:40:30 GMT

All I can say is... this might just be stunning. Check out some preview pics below. I want to steal those and write a roleplaying game based around it. Awesome:

http://www.aintitcool.com/node/31123

Two Quick Links for an Alternate Tuesday Night of Fun.

Wed, 03 Jan 2007 01:20:32 GMT

Originally published at mysticages.com. You can comment here or there.

So, one bit of interesting news - Barbarians Versus is now available on LuLu.com as a PDF download. Check out http://www.lulu.com/mysticages for the beginnings of the online store there. I’ll update the BV site with this info later.

On the game design front, I posted a rather quickly put together game of spelling action called… Swords & Spelling. It’s a fantasy roleplaying game. Check it out and tell me what you think. My niece, who is in the 3rd Grade, is getting ready for a spelling bee later this month. I wrote it for her… It’s kind of ridiculous, but I think it would be fun. http://www.rpglaboratory.com/mysticages/swords_spelling_round_one

Barbarians Versus now available on e23.

Fri, 01 Dec 2006 16:43:32 GMT

Originally published at mysticages.com. You can comment here or there.

With the rippling changes in the PDF online distribution world, I decided it was time to diversify. e23 is a great online games store run by Steve Jackson Games. If you haven’t checked it out, it’s been growing steadily over the past couple of years. It hosts a wide collection of GURPS and SJGames material, as well as a swathe of independent and small press designers. The other key name of note is Atlas Games, which has moved almost all of their catalog there.

Anyway, Barbarians Versus is $5, ready for download. If you haven’t picked up a copy yet, now might be a good time to do so. Here’s the link. Updates to the BV page will be forthcoming.

The Big News.

Fri, 27 Oct 2006 17:29:18 GMT

Originally published at mysticages.com. You can comment here or there.

The Big News in the world of indie games is the merger of DriveThruRPGs and RPGNow.com - the two heavy-hitters of PDF/electronic downloads. You can find quite a swathe of materials on both sites - longtime game companies and small independent publishers (like Mystic Ages). The idea is for both companies to leverage their collective might to further grow the electronic download market. In the meanwhile, some publishers are expecting a loss in revenue from the whole thing. It will be interesting to see what happens.

What is Mystic Ages up to in the midst of this? I am reworking the site a bit, and I plan to start hoisting up some more material. I have a Eldritch Ass Kicking blog that will be kicked off next month - it’s a way to march toward an EAK v2.0 someday. Plus, you should see some new products (finally) and a bunch of cool free stuff.

Yeah, this stuff comes in flurries for me, but don’t expect a lot. I’m getting married next month too. That’s my life.

Need some way to waste your time?

Fri, 01 Sep 2006 14:58:22 GMT

Try these little flash games which are great puzzle teasers but inevitably waste so much of your life as to be frustrating....

http://lightforce.freestuff.gr/warehouse.php

Seriously, have fun... BUT DON'T GET FIRED.

Best Thing About Not Going to Gencon

Wed, 16 Aug 2006 14:44:56 GMT

Seriously, the coolest thing about not going to Gencon is seeing the interesting individual reports afterwards, especially the little hints of drama and change that is occurring, but seeing it from sort of an off in the distance vantage point. You can easily pick out the big winners of the con and good buys. Of course, a game can get good buzz at Gencon and still end up disappearing. But the additional stuff is seeing the shift in relationships and energy, like John Wick and Jared Sorensen's soon(?) dissolve of Wicked Dead Brewing Company or the wistful departure of Ryan Dancey from the game scene. It is an interesting dynamic all in all and probably a little different to view when you aren't caught up in the emotional experience of the con.

Indie Game Commandments

Mon, 14 Aug 2006 17:51:41 GMT

Originally published at mysticages.com. You can comment here or there.

I noticed a great article from one of the co-founders of Bungie, arguably the greatest computer game development company to have ever existed (although it still sort of exists within Microsoft’s gargantuan mass). Alexander Seropian lays out four indie game commandments, before he begins to tackle elements of video game design. I thought this was a good read and parallels many core principles of the indie rpg movement. Here are the four commandments:

First Commandment: We shall establish our game’s creative direction.
Second commandment: We shall own our intellectual property.
Third commandment: We shall not let a third party determine our success, such as the publisher who’s doing (or not doing) the marketing, or the funding source (likely a publisher) making demands that are not in-line with our goals.
Fourth Commandment: We shall have a small manageable team. We don’t want 50 employees making one game over three years in house (we want low overhead), and we don’t want to suffer the churn of ramping up and down for projects.

You can read the rest of the article here: http://gamasutra.com/features/20060811/seropian_01.shtml

I shouldn’t be surprised at how these link up with the indie rpg movement, but I am curious if there is a broader “indie” movement taking place. Are these just good ideas, or is this a result of what is happening as creativity, new media, and internet collide? Good stuff to think about at least…

Still no writing.

Wed, 28 Jun 2006 17:00:27 GMT

I've been feeling the writing itch, but I still have too many things on my plate lately. I have some webhosting things to catch up on, a short commercial for work to edit, a short documentary to put together, and stuff. I will be gone most of July, but maybe I can squeeze in some time throughout.

Oh, and I'm engaged... which is a wild exciting move.

Basic Questions 'Bout Believin'

Thu, 18 May 2006 03:26:13 GMT

Hi there, how are you?

The Da Vinci Code is making the rounds. Note: I haven't read the book, but I've got a strong grasp on what its about. I think I will be checking out the movie. Ron Howard is directing, with a solid cast, and I hear it's a fun thriller (though it may be dumbed down a bit).

There's been a ton of info tossed out, for or against the flick. Especially really reactionary stuff... And that sucks. It's kind of silly to perceive such a book as an attack on faith -- it is, lest we forget, a work of fiction, and it's intended to be a fun suspense story. I did get to hear the fourth part of a cool sermon series on the book, by a Korean pastor. It was a damn fine sermon, very balanced in its approach. It also gave me a stronger sense of what the book raises about church and everything. (I'll be crossposting this to my religion/faith/spirituality/life blog at www.disciplesx.com.)

I'll try to add to this as people ask other questions. If I don't know, I'll go over and quiz some professors (I live at and attend a seminary) and get a cross section of answers. These professors run the range of views, so it might be interesting.

First, how did the Bible come to be? We don't really know. Well... if you say, how did a certain translation come to be, we have all the info you need on that... from King James to older versions (like the old Wycliffe Jean stuff) to newer stuff. Now, if you ask, how did each book in the Bible get in there... well, we don't know. It was apparently a consensus sort of thing. Communities of faith apparently had access to various letters, texts, and so on, and through their own practice, came to see a number of them as standard. There were lots of disagreements. For example, one faith community (or a group of them) took all four gospels and tried to force them into a single gospel. This was circulated and used, but eventually, it fell out a favor. We don't know why.

Throughout the Bible's history, there have always been efforts to prune or add, though that has lessened over the years. Martin Luther, for instance, saw certain epistles in the New testament of being worthless. The Protestant church also kicked out some texts because they were trying to do things their own way or whatever. Gnostic texts were pruned or rejected, because they supposedly were pagan or unorthodox. We don't know why, as when we read them later, they don't seem amazingly "bizarre". Certainly, some of them are quite unusual, like the childhood stories of Jesus in the Gospel of James. Mostly, these Gnostic texts were also written rather late, making it difficult for anyone to justify adding them to the canon at the time.

It's all a very complex issue, especially the Gnostics. There is so little we know. As we have discovered their texts, we know that Gnostics are concerned with "gnosis", basically special knowledge imparted to them by Christ. You can see this in the Gospel of John as well, sort of a special dispensation of knowledge from Jesus to a specific disciple. The communities that produced these texts then claim that they have been followers of this disciple and have this special knowledge. However, like I mentioned before, their texts aren't all that wild. So, the scholarly thought suggests, like the Montanists, it wasn't their teaching that was so much hated -- it may have been their actions as a community. Were they too socially progressive, suggesting an overthrow of the social order? Perhaps. Were they wild, insane cultists who did disgusting evil things to initiates? Perhaps. Maybe it was a combination -- whatever it was, the main stream sort of tradition saw them as radical and incompatible.. and they were suppressed. We are glad that their texts have survived, because they shine a lot of light on what was going on in religious thought in that day.. and reveal time and time again, there was never one view on Christianity -- it has always been diverse, changing, contradictory, and so on. It's cool, actually.

What do we really know about the divinity of Jesus? Was Jesus really divine, or was it something that was made up later by the church? This is a popular thought, even among some Christian scholars. Certainly, there is evidence to suggest that maybe the divinity of Jesus was something that developed later, but there are a lot of holes in this. For starters, we have to pinpoint the first texts written in the New Testament. Written by Paul, these epistles appeared in the 1st century, well before the church in Rome had become any sort of organized force. But Paul refers in these early epistles (written between 45-70 AD?) to a high Christology -- there are segments of the text which scholars suggest are pieces of hymns, which have amazing things to say about the divinity of Jesus. And if Paul was indeed a latecomer to Christianity, that suggests that the divinity of Jesus was already well in practice, in just a few years after Jesus' death. This is absolutely fascinating! The first time in my faith journey that I have ever heard a good solid answer about the divinity of Jesus... Certainly, there is still a lot we don't know, but it is remarkable to see how quickly the communities believed in a divine Jesus -- Jesus meant something very radical and life-changing to them (which of course goes on today).

Is the church corrupt? Well, yeah... certainly not always, but like any institution, it happens. I certainly wish and work for a transparent church in the future.. but time will tell....

Okay, so thus ends your random bible questions answered for today. I am going to keep working on this, and punch it up as some sort of article on DisciplesX. Night!

Edit No. 1: I sort of cut it short, because my girlfriend wanted to talk. I will probably go through this and try to clarify certain things, cite specific sources, and detail things a bit more... But I'm getting tired... but hopefully, if any of you care to read this stuff, you can help me tighten things up before I post it over at DisciplesX. And I changed the title, cause really, this doesn't have a lot to do with the Da Vinci Code, other than hopefully satisfying some curiosity out there... Peace!

The first post always hurts.

Fri, 12 May 2006 16:43:49 GMT

Originally published at mysticages.com. You can comment here or there.

So this is my first post on my new Mystic Ages site. Just a test here, so don’t get all excited if it doesn’t seem like much. Just hold on a bit.

I'll keep an eye out for you, Stingray.

Thu, 06 Apr 2006 03:15:19 GMT

Someone posted this clip in some LJ comments last week -- I hunted it back down. Insanely hilarious, bad, and yet... delightful. From the martial arts epic, "Undefeatable" -- complete with bad sound effects and ridiculous homoerotic themes...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxkr4wS7XqY&search=best%20fight%20scene

"Yea! See ya!"

Buy, buy, sell, sell.

Wed, 29 Mar 2006 18:25:39 GMT

I have some gamebooks up that I don't need anymore -- a few I am getting rid of are a bit painful. Spycraft, Ars Magica 4E, Unknown Armies 1E, and Orkworld (by John Wick). In addition, I randomly ended up with a copy of the French version of Call of Cthulhu, 1983 boxed set. It's in decent condition and has held up over the past twenty-two odd years. Nice. Feel free to make an offer -- check out the thread below.

http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?t=253659

review sighting!

Mon, 20 Mar 2006 18:13:24 GMT

Check it out -- a review of Barbarians Versus!

RPGnet: Review of Barbarian Versus

snakes on a plane!

Fri, 17 Mar 2006 19:29:54 GMT

YouTube - snakes on a plane official trailer

Snakes on a f'n Plane!

Join the Flock.

Fri, 17 Mar 2006 19:26:18 GMT

So yeah... I got Flock working. And here's my initial review....

Being able to blog links by right clicking on them... instantly when I see cool news or stuff on the web... is awesome.

Plus, it links to del.icio.us or shadows, so I can share bookmarks with friends. And it has cool integration with Flickr, although I haven't tested it out yet. That's next.

traffic jam.

Sat, 11 Mar 2006 03:37:39 GMT

I'm sick right now... been sick actually. The doctor says it's "minimal pneumonia". I'm not worried -- I don't feel too bad. He gave me some antibiotics to cram into my body, and they sort of seem to be working. I cough often and feel the wet stuff come up from my lungs. It sucks.

The worry with this kind of stuff is... well, stressing out. If I don't rest enough, I may get a bit worse.

And here is where the traffic jam comes to a head.

I do a lot of stuff.

I have many hobbies. Yes, I write games and stuff. I love it. Should have a couple of freelance bits show up this year from two different, respected companies (you know who you are). I have like three games I would love to get out the door in PDF form (or even print on demand). I plan on going to Gencon to support Eldritch Ass Kicking. I even have a sort of "treasure chest" supplement idea for that...

In addition to that, I work part time in a regional Christian church office. Try to bring young adults together, support camp and conference programs which get young'uns and on up to grow in faith, and other stuff there. I was recently named an Associate to the Disciples Center for Public Witness -- I am trying to get young adults involved in peace and justice advocacy to turn American around. I also am on the denomination wide young adult commission, trying to formulate a young adult ministry for the 700,000+ member body.

Also.. I am going to seminary full time, working on a Masters of Divinity. I have tons of reading on that each week, with papers and projects in the mix. For one of my classes, I am going to shoot a 15 minute documentary about three women leaders in my local church -- basically, a thought provoking look at how women feel enabled or disabled by their congregation. I'm also assistant editor for my local campus journal.

There's more... I have a girlfriend -- things be gettin' serious there too. She's awesome, but we are still moving ahead, a day at a time. Don't know exactly how things are going to completely shake out there, but I am optimistic.

And still more -- I write and perform music. I do a folksy indie rock blend, me and my guitar. I am planning on another local gig in April, a benefit show for a women's theatre project in Guatemala. I am also working on putting together a demo cd/album to give away for free or something. Really, there's more too -- my freelance writing (had an article published this month in DisciplesWorld magazine), a DisciplesX podcast in the works, and other computer website tinkering...

At the end, I am beginning to think I need to narrow some stuff down -- start focusing, bringing things together, and let that be that.

And if I start crossing stuff off, I think the first thing that may have to go is the gaming stuff... Sure, I will still game, but the game design and all -- so far, it's fun, but I simply don't have time for it.

I don't know... these are thoughts of a tired soul. Night.

Cool web browser.

Thu, 16 Feb 2006 20:20:22 GMT

Check out Flock. An unusual but cool web browser in development. I think it is based off of Firefox/Mozilla, but it has cool integrated features -- hook it up to del.icio.us to share "favorite websites" publicly (it stores them on the net), has a built-in blogger (you can even select text and click 'blog this' to comment about articles and content elsewhere on the web), and integrates with flickr for photosharing. Not bad, eh?

I dig.

Good week.

Thu, 16 Feb 2006 15:02:49 GMT

Well, it's been a solid couple of months for computer purchases.

In January, I bought a HP PCS 1510 All-in-One printer/scanner/copier from Best Buy. It was an open box model, so I saved a few more bucks off the price. It's a quick printer, easy to use. Of course, I give HP an F for Driver support, as the installation software crashes upon use. I am trying to figure out a work around, but I can print.

On Monday, I bought a used Powerbook G4, finally replacing my weathered Powerbook G3 (Pismo). The Pismo is a trusty computer, really. Its processing power is by no means amazing, but it was able to do most anything I wanted to do. Still, it was getting long in the tooth, and I needed a machine to do video editing and podcasts and stuff. So I picked up a used Powerbook G4 12", 1.5 Ghz, for $1k from an embassy guard. It's a sweet machine. So far, I give it a Frickin' A for everything -- easy to setup, fast, fun to use, looks good. It's a sweet machine.

Look for some GarageBand music mixes and podcasts coming in the future...

BTW, other than the iLife sweet, I also recommend SandVox, an interesting web design program in beta right now. Pretty interesting stuff.

Throwing My Support

Mon, 06 Feb 2006 15:35:53 GMT

My good friend, anaka, has a recent LiveJournal post about the Le Games' ads that got me thinking on several fronts. (Also check out iamnikchick's original posts about the issue.)

First, the only D20 product that I have written was a simple little collection of artifacts dealing with the undead -- published by The Le Games. It was an experiment, to see if I could put something together that was half decent. It got solid reviews I guess. The Le paid me for it, but not much. So now, I am pretty torn -- I don't want to be associated with a company that markets their games with t&a. It's not me at all. It's not what I support.

Second, I do understand the idea behind the Le Games' ads. The gaming hobby is a male-dominated group, and heck, if you want to get ahead and move books, maybe that's what you need to do -- aim for the "lower head". However, just because that angle may work, it does not mean it's right. In fact, I think this is exactly the image of the hobby we should move away from.

Let me get a little more personal.

My girlfriend thinks it is cool that I write games and all. She is proud of that, but she has no idea what they are. She wants to go to Gencon with me this year. I am cool with that. I told her she might need to help out at the booth if we go, and then I jokingly said... "if you really want to help, you might need to wear some sort of anime costume, so gamer guys will come by the booth and buy stuff..." Yeah, it was a joke -- but I realize that this is an actual strategy of some companies/designers out there. And this is what sucks about our hobby.

(Side Note: she was intrigued by the idea -- she likes dressing up in costumes. However, I think it's a vile strategy to sell books.)

Here is my vision of our hobby -- gaming should be about playing games. And nothing else. If your game cannot sell based on the fact that it is fun to play, then stop selling it. If you have to resort to gimmicky ads and using sex (and cheesecake covers and the such) to get your book into people's hands, I think you're distorting our hobby.

And yeah, there are ways this kind of marketing may work. If your game is about playing super models fighting against corporate fat cats, T&A may be an appropriate way to market your game. I can understand that. But if you are selling supplements about an x number of magical artifacts/spells/swords/what-have-you, it doesn't work.

There are more examples, I'm sure. I think, like most folks, we are reasonable about this. It's not a do or die issue, but it is an issue which should lead us to think critically about the games we buy and the companies we support. What kind of hobby do we want? What is our hobby really about? Is it about fulfilling inner male fantasies? Or is it about imagination, friends, and fun?

my dream game...

Sun, 29 Jan 2006 02:04:18 GMT

I'm working on my great game design epic, the dream game (now known as the Land Beyond).

Check out the Forge thread for the lowdown:
http://www.indie-rpgs.com/forum/index.php?topic=18544.0

Also: Liberators is getting close to its new playable playtest form. Extinction will also be going up in playtest form soon.

Finally: Studying... ehhh... not so much.

Follow me.

Fri, 06 Jan 2006 21:22:58 GMT

I know it's been a while since I've updated. I had a good Christmas and all. Life has been busy, work has been busy, and I've even gotten some freelance gigs taken care of. I'm looking forward to the brand new year that lies ahead.

I am working on updating the Mystic Ages Online website. Hopefully, I can get it done over the weekend. Meanwhile, check out this review I did for the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. It's funny at least. (I think so anyway.)

I love reading my old stuff -- cause I truly have improved in my writing skills. Also -- some of it is just plain bad (and funny).

After Action Report

Mon, 31 Oct 2005 17:39:42 GMT

Whoa -- the weekend was solid.

Terpcon 2005: Ran two sessions of Eldritch Ass Kicking there. It was a decently organized convention -- just a big gameday with minimum necessary organization. I had a lot of fun, meeting some new local gamers and sharing my creation with them. The two groups loved the game. I had fun.

I also played Weapons of the Gods, with my friend Rakesh running. Awesome, awesome game. Definitely on the buy list now.

reports here: http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?t=226788
And I have pictures up at: http://www.eldritchasskicking.com

Did Not: get to see Hey Kids, Nice Robot -- although they were in the area. Curses! I only found out about the gig on Saturday night.

Got: a huge week... two tests, two interview sessions, one gig, one regional board meeting, and one young adult gathering.

Girls: Causing me trouble in my life... Not sure what to do/say next -- but whatever it is, I'm sure it will be wrong. But maybe there is light at the end of the tunnel?

That's it. I can't do many complete sentences today, too crazy of a week ahead.

Finally got something done...

Wed, 19 Oct 2005 18:51:26 GMT

Hey, I did the first alternate setting for Barbarians Versus. It's a 3 page download -- sort of a tongue in cheek, goofy little thing with a smidgeon of bite.

DWARF

With Barbarians Versus, I am creating this wild universe full of archetypes and treasure-hoarding species. You got the barbarians who give honor to their clans by looting and killing. Then, you get the dwarves who loot so they can pay for entrance into their dwarven heaven. Next, I might add dragons -- which actually digest the stuff (a brilliant idea that somebody else used). I figure elves might seek to destroy all the riches for sake of purity and earthiness. Then, Southern humans are sort of stuck in the middle. It's kind of a crazy gag, and I hopefully won't carry it that far. I mean, it's a major in-joke geeky kind of thing.

But fun.

what's this? a gig?

Fri, 14 Oct 2005 18:59:35 GMT