Interference is back!

Well, as previously noted, I resolved my interference which gave me a lot of extra free time. But, while I had more time to play with toys, the downside was less money to spend on them!

So now I have new interference. The good news is that the new job is pretty awesome so far. The bad news is that I suck at being creative during the week since when I am working I usually feel quite drained when I get home.

BabyBat and I have been taking a lot of pictures lately, though, so I wanted to at least share this one. We both have Nikon cameras - a D80 and a D3200. If Nikon ever releases a new version of the 7000, I might pick that one up.

We took this picture right after our party's medusa turned the savage beast into stone, so don't worry - Safety First!

Fierce.

Military Structure in an RPG

Extensive complexity for military structures is not that important in most fantasy RPGs - however, in honor of the hobby's wargame origins and in the spirit of plausibility, I'd like to share some notes. Hopefully they will help others brainstorm and understand these structures!

BabyBat took this picture, because she is awesome.

Besides being in the military for a few years, I am also a student of military history, from the early Roman period forward. I believe a lot can be learnt about a culture by studying their approach to military, and conflict in general.

Remember that this is a great place to make the flavor of your chosen culture really shine. There is a big difference between a forced-conscription, high per-capita military and a volunteer-only, low per-capita military presence in a region. Make a basic framework, and focus on flavor from there.

Wanted: Dragon Slayer

Any good posts from Craig's List last year? Oh, yes.

2012 Winner
Hands down my favorite Craig's List post for last year:

I am quite sure most of you have seen the rather large green dragon that has been flying over the north east side of Grand Rapids for the better part of a week. I am looking for someone to:

1.) Lure said dragon away from Grand Rapids to a more rural area.
2.) Force said dragon to land in rural area.
3.) Slay said dragon in whatever way you see fit.

No Pay, dragon slaying is it's own reward.

Please note that I am not talking about the red dragon that frequents the area from time to time. He and I have an agreement. (emphasis mine)

(http://www.craigslist.org/about/best/grr/2967803311.html)

Sounds like the start of a good adventure to me!

2012 Runner Up
It even relates to a recent comment thread on this blog.
Woman DM needed for D&D based Adult Bachelor Party

Compared to 2011?
Both of these are better than 2011's winner, which relates to a Super Mario level you've likely not seen before.

photo credit: Luisus Rasilvi via photopin cc

Phoenix Classes and Aspects - v2

During the last round of playtesting, I decided that the Portfolio system in Phoenix needed some revision. Previously, character creation involved the selection of two Aspects to create a sort of custom class.  So someone could combine Ninja and Dimension to make a crazy time-hopping assassin.

It worked good in some regards but as a player and a GM both, I really love spells and spellbooks, and this system necessarily ran away from those concepts a little bit. Characters also fell into the psuedo-4e trap of being too similar; i.e., having the same number of abilities on each character sheet regardless of class or desire.

I do like a class-based approach, and I like classes to be strongly defined but customizable by the player. I did like the interesting combinations that aspects offered, so the new draft for the next round of playtesting will reflect a combination of these approaches.

During character creation, a character's Mortal Portfolio now involves two choices: what class, and what aspect.