ps238principal ([info]ps238principal) wrote,
@ 2004-12-02 00:44:00
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EXTENDED LOTR! GLEE!






Didja miss the greeting card link last week? Never fear! Free Nodwick.com holiday cards are here, including the new one starring the FFN crew! Surprise your loved ones! Greet fellow geeks! Rid your house of unwanted stamps!

And speaking of mail, I just wanted to let you know that me and the HP Store elves are hitting the post office at least twice a week to fulfill orders. Domestic Priority Mail delivery is 2-3 days, so be sure to get your holiday order in before the 20th!

Now, this week's FFN reflects a change in my occasional D&D campaign. Recently, I had been touring the Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil. Our GM decided to take a break and start a side campaign in the Scarred Lands. Why, you ask? My guess is that a party of three really doesn't stand much of a chance against the temple, especially one that charges into battle without a plan of attack, much less a plan of retreat (beyond PANIC AHOY! FLEE IN TERROR!). So, our new characters were told to take a stipend and purchase an inn/tavern where we would be employed to do... shady things. Did I mention nobody in the party is a paladin? Hee-hee. Anyway, we found one in our price range and purchased it for a song. Naturally, the place was cursed, and we had to spend the money we saved un-cursing one of us who was then free to go and break the curse by stealing an artifact blah-blah-blah. In the end, it was all good, and my half-orc barbarian/theif/fighter rolled his first natural 20 and even got to use his "great cleave" feat. Good times, good times.

And I can't wait to get to this week's links, especially the first one, because...

- They've posted an 8-minute trailer for the extended edition of "Return of the King!" What's amazing about this film is how my newly-geeked wife wants to add this DvD set to our collection even more than I do!
- The Dragon Illusion! An alert reader sent me this make-your-own-optical illusion site, and it's truly fascinating. There's even a link to a film showing how it works.
- Here's a site of animated films from Pierre Coffin. He's a french animator with a flair for Pixar-esque "cute." The first film on the page is a fav of mine, but then again, I've always liked "The Lion Sleeps Tonight." If you cruise to his main page, click "ouch" to shut the bird up. :)
- A sequel to last week's transformer movies, and a classic of the genre: the Transforming VW! The link to the actual movie is at the bottom of the page, and the rest is an interesting step-by-step "making of" regarding the film. Bumblebee lives!


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[info]talinthas
2004-12-02 07:46 am UTC (link)
Hey Aaron, will you be coming to gencon socal?

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[info]ps238principal
2004-12-02 08:32 am UTC (link)
Sadly, no. The company that represents Henchman Publishing (called Adventure Retail) declined to go this year. There were many reasons, including the proximity to Christmas (which cuts down on out-of-towners who probably already have to travel somewhere around the 25th), the distance from our warehouse (which is in St. Paul), and the fact that nobody running the con "made nice" with the labor running the hall. The last reason meant that very few vendors broke even, and most lost $$ at the show. :(

I don't want to discourage anyone from going, by any means. It's a great con to go to, especially if your home town is in the grip of winter. It had lots of celebrities, and you can't beat eating at a Disney theme park right across the street every night!

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[info]talinthas
2004-12-02 08:46 am UTC (link)
well, to be fair, i'm going because it's in driving distance (san jose to LA is only about 5 hours or so, on a nice empty highway), and a lot of my seattle friends like Stan! and stuff are going.

That, and i want to pitch an idea for d20 India to Green Ronin.

And Tad Williams wants to meet me for coffee, and when one of your favorite authors tells you to come and hang out, by God, you Go And Hang Out.

Ok, so it's all a crock. While the above reasons are technically true, i'm actually going just because my parents are both in india, and i've had a really rough life since graduating college in june, and damn it, it's gen con, and i want to game again =)

oh, and i took a digital picture of a sketch you did for me at gencon 2k1 and put it here- http://tal.tomsvw.com/Raistlin/me_001 along with all the other random raistlin pics i got from folks like Elmore and Lockwood.
Just thought i'd share =)

and i'm sad you aren't coming. but hey, there's always indy =)


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[info]ps238principal
2004-12-02 08:51 am UTC (link)
I do wish I could afford to attend, m'self, but I've got three printing irons in the fire right now, and money's a little stretched. But I will miss going; California is a great place for conventions, and the food is always top-notch!

And India has great potential for RPG's. It's got rich mythology, a plethora of settings (from modern to medieval), elephants (you gotta have elephants), and, if politics are your thang, the caste system can spice up a campaign even more than alignment conflicts!

And meeting Tad Williams? Greatness! I think I have an autographed copy of "The Dragonbone Chair" floating around somewhere... :)

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[info]talinthas
2004-12-02 10:34 pm UTC (link)
exactly. I've always wanted to play D&D set in the stories my parents used to tell me. There is a lot of deep potential for cool gaming there. And hey, if we can have ancient Jewish RPGs like Testament, why not the Mahabharata or something?

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[info]alun_clewe
2004-12-03 09:06 am UTC (link)
You may very well already know this, but Wizards of the Coast actually released a (very briefly described) Indian-flavored campaign setting a few years ago as a web enhancement for Oriental Adventures--it's available from the WotC site here.

I'm certainly not trying to say that this means you're treading already-traveled ground or that you shouldn't try pitching your idea--obviously a sourcebook about India is a very different thing from an eleven-page description of a campaign world with an Indian feel. I just thought you might be interested in what's been done along somewhat similar lines, if you weren't already aware of it. Anyway, good luck with the pitch.

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[info]talinthas
2004-12-03 11:10 am UTC (link)
Yeah. I've known about it for a long time. (my copy of OA came from James Wyatt's desk- it's his personal copy) Mahasarpa is terrible, though, and mine won't be =)

Other attempts have been made, namely Mindshadows by Green Ronin.

Frankly, none of them do what i think an Indian RPG should do. As such, like any good d20 enthusiast, i'm making my own =)

(Reply to this) (Parent)

Ooo... I'ld buy that!
[info]brightmeadow
2004-12-02 10:11 pm UTC (link)
Good luck with the pitch! I would definitely buy it.

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On a totally unrelated note
[info]dukeofthelime
2004-12-07 07:33 pm UTC (link)
The horror, the horror, oh the horror.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0764584596/103-0196067-7384667

When you see where this leads it will be more than self explanatory.

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Re: On a totally unrelated note
[info]ps238principal
2004-12-09 08:30 am UTC (link)
I thought that was called "The Dungeon!" boardgame? :)

Cool link!

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

Re: On a totally unrelated note
[info]dukeofthelime
2004-12-09 08:24 pm UTC (link)
Thought it would entertain. Your welcome.

(Reply to this) (Parent)


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