Deadhouse Gates

A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin is book one in the A Song of Ice and Fire series. I have owned this book for approximately a year before finally reading it. It came with much acclaim but also a fair share of negativity as well, could this not be said about any book though. Some of the major criticisms about this book are the amount of characters, violence, and incest. Are these thins present in this book? Absolutely. Does it detract from the overall story? No. It simply boils down to personal preferences and what each individual likes to read.

The plot of this book is actually rather concise and compact. Yes, there are several sub-plots, but the overall plot of this book is pretty straight forward. It has been used in countless fantasy books before this and that is; different people vying to be the King. However, even if you have read this plot hundreds of times, Martin writes it in such a way that it seems not only new, but also ground breaking. The depth of intrigue, betrayal, and tragedy that are present is unlike anything I have read before. If you are thinking of reading this book this is more adult fantasy. Along with the main plot there is also the sub-plot of the Wall. In this book we are introduced to several aspects of the Wall, but as of yet not much happens there. I can easily see that being a setting for future plot twists and big moments. I have heard some say that too much is going on in this book. I don’t think that’s the case at all. Martin does a very good job at breaking the story up into pieces so the reader can digest everything they are reading. I didn’t find myself lost at all.

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It’s bound to happen in any game. Maybe it’s over something like material wealth, or perhaps over a given course of action to be taken by the party, but conflict of interest happens with a moderate frequency in most P&P RPG’s I’ve played. Most of the time it’s the players who are actually responsible for it, putting themselves at odds with the other characters, or sometime sheer coincidence and crossed loyalties result in a convoluted mass of interconnections that looks more like spaghetti rather than a series of straight lines.

Normally such things resolve themselves, but on occasion two characters end up utterly devoted to their specific loyalties and don’t back down, resulting in a dangerous situation that teeters on the verge of PVP. I’m not a fan of player vs player conflict myself, since ultimately one of the characters is going to end up dead, and negative feelings crop up all around unless the team is extremely understanding of such and have explicitly stated that it’s OK.

In cases when such an event does occur, what are the options available for GM’s who don’t want it to turn into PVP? Well, in my opinion the best bet is to take it out of the game and discuss it among your players honestly. Tell them about how you feel about the situation and check with them if they’re fine with how things are going. If they’re not, then slip in the query of how to get the characters to back off or at least reach a compromise.

Most reasonable players will be wiling to sort thing out out of character, and resuming play. There’s nothing wrong with this approach in my opinion, and you do not automatically become a bad GM just because you couldn’t resolve the situation peacefully in character. Let’s face it, as a GM, your control is limited to the NPCs. Player characters are a whole different animal, so it becomes crucial to come in and apply a different solution.

In the end it all comes back to communication. Talk to your players, listen to what they have to say, and find their comfort zones. As long as you’re playing within that range, then there’s no harm, no foul and everyone can let loose and have fun. But the moment things get to the point where the players themselves feel back for what their characters “will have to do” then it might be a good idea to pull back out of character and renegotiate the situation.

One of the better YouTube videos I’ve seen this year!

Hey, you, the Americans, this post is for you precisely!

Have you heard about the E-Parasite bill?

It’s the latest and sadly most promising folly coming from Hollywood lobbyists. In their great trend to try and improve everyone’s lives, in order to avoid reflexion on renewing their outdated business model, they prefer to hit very hard on civil liberties and threaten your economy.

With that crazy bill, kiss goodbye to civil liberties. To freedom of speech. To free internet porn!. Europe and Asia will welcome with open arms half of your internet geniuses wanting to create billionaire firms.

The content industry’s lobbyists have forged two new bills, one in the Senate called Protect IP and one in the House called E-Parasites. These bills were written by the content industry without any input from the technology industry. And they are trying to fast track them through congress and into law without any negotiation with the technology industry.

The new house version of Protect IP is far worse than the Senate bill s.968 and it massively expands the sites that will be covered by the law. While the Senate bill limited its focus to sites that were ‘dedicated to infringing activities,’ the house bill targets ‘foreign infringing sites’ and ‘has only limited purpose or use other than infringement.’ They’re also including an ‘inducement’ claim, any foreign site declared by the Attorney General to be ‘inducing’ infringement, can now be censored by the US. With no adversarial hearing.

There’s just one problem: this crazy bill could pass. Seriously.

So, please, dear Americans, There’s an official petition about it. Or you can also contact your representatives, talk about it around you, tweet it etc. But please, don’t allow damn lobbyists from the middle ages to shoot you all in the brain!

You can read about it on the following pages, or download the bill itself as a PDF at the bottom of this post.

• E-PARASITE Bill: ‘The End Of The Internet As We Know It’
• Copyright bill revives Internet ‘death penalty’
• PROTECT-IP Act Becomes E-PARASITE

Download:
E-PARASITE Act

Here is a weekend goodie for all the gamemasters out there. A prophecy that can be used in most roleplaying games with little tweak of the text. Suggestions and comments are welcome of course.

On the day or reckoning, when all worlds align
and the rays of the sun disappears from the face of the land.
The might of the dragons armies will gather, to wreck havoc on the world.
The black moon will herald the beginning of the end,
and only a man, pure of heart, can stop the mighty Tyrantrakas, Lord of Dragons.

With the Claw of Denali, the wicked one will be struck down,
by his own blood, the unlikeliest of heroes.
The hero will come from the north and his life will be uneventful,
yet his deeds will be remembered until end of time

There’s a common misconception around roleplayers that the GM that handles all the plotting and storytelling in a roleplaying game. While the majority of a storyline does fall on the GM shoulders, there’s also quite a lot of opportunities for the players to actually take the reins and lend direction to where a game is going. Proactive and enthusiastic players can contribute by pushing their own respective agendas, and taking time off to tell the GM before and/or after the session to remind him of what they intend to do.

Here are a few ways that I as a player do to encourage my GM to pursue subplots revolving around my characters.

• If you’re interested in something pursue it — As long as it can be rationalized IC, then there’s plenty of opportunities to make a passing comment grow into something more.
• Pay attention to your character’s motivations — Everyone has something that interests them, or gets them to move. Don’t wait for the GM to dangle something, pursue it, look for and make opportunities.
• Involve other players — The more opportunities you have to bring other player characters along to get involved with your stories, the more incentive the GM has to work it into the game.

As with all things, communication is yet again key. Tell your GM that you’d like to get your character to do something, or go through a particular scenario. Who knows, he might just pull it out and use it in the game. The GM’s aren’t exactly geniuses in everything (at least I hope not), and sometimes, even if they love the character concepts, they occasionally draw blanks when it comes to plotting for a specific character. Or at least that is my experience. So do your best to communicate with your GM.

Take note that this isn’t a technique to steal the spotlight, but one that will help the GM think of plots, further your character’s interests, and make the game more enjoyable for you and, hopefully, everyone else.

I think that one of the most important roles undertaken by a GM is to be the villain in a game. More than a setting, or the NPC allies, the Villains help define the player characters as Heroes, by being their antithetical. In the campaigns that I’ve played, and in almost any setting, I find the the more memorable the Villains are, the more likely the game will be fondly remembered as well.

That said, some of the most memorable villains don’t have to be the ones with overwhelming stats, or builds that can dish out XdY damage per turn, or has Z amount of attacks (though that often put the fear in my heart as a player). Instead, the most memorable villains are the ones who manage to strike a chord with the heroes. They’re the ones that suddenly remind me that they’re not some random cardboard cutout with targets painted on them… but characters in their own right.

Here are some ideas/tips on what I personally think makes a villain memorable:

show, don’t tell

Villains need to have a good image. His mannerisms, dress, speech and behavior should be considered to make him stand out. Players need to be able to identify him immediately after the first encounter from his description alone. Scars, jewelry, disfigurements and other memory shortcuts come in handy here.

have a goal, evil is never evil for evil’s sake

That way lies lazy thinking, and subpar villains. Every villain, from an evil Land-Grabbing Oil Baron to a Fanatical Religious Manipulator has a Goal. Whether its money, love, pride, his country or revenge, every villain becomes more interesting the moment they’re spurred on to do more.

have a plan

A goal is one half of the equation, the other is to have a plan to reach that goal. Unless the Villain is designed to be a monster with the most rudimentary of goals (sate hunger, find mate, crush puny humans), they usually have some measure of planning capabilities. Having a plan B or C or some form of failsafe will at least keep your Players on their toes.

interact

And I don’t mean “Gloat in front of PCs”. GM techniques such as Cutscenes, or second hand stories from witnesses will go a long way to show the Players what kind of person they’re up against. Have them see the aftermath of his or her work.

groups are good

If you’ve got the hang of the system, feel free to team your villains up. A party of villains with different personality types and methodologies make for a dynamic and interesting opposition to the player characters. Adding a helping of Teamwork would be great too, just to underline that the bad guys are not above using the same tricks that Player Characters do.

As a P&P RPG enthusiast I’ve met a fair share of other players who actually don’t bother to listen in to the whole game. They’re there during exposition, they’re there during their combat turns, but the moment the focus leaves the group as a whole and their character, they zone out.

These are the guys who drift out of the scene, crack open a book, start chatting up a fellow player outside of the scene, or even starts to fiddle with their mobile phone. I know I can’t blame these people since they’re really free to do what they want. However, they’re often missing out on the important narrative.

Sure what happens to the other characters technically falls into the “things my character shouldn’t know” category, but anyone with even a little sense of OOC and IC knowledge should be able to listen in and see their fellow player’s character’s trials and tribulations with the eye and attitude of an audience.

Just what is it that makes me say this? Well, as a player, I don’t have the privy to the whole picture like a GM has most of the time, so when I actually play, I can’t help but feel that I’m missing out on something very important if I don’t listen in to everyone. It’s like being given a book with selected chapters ripped out. Sure your favorite character’s storyline is whole, but the narative is incomplete, and diminished because of it.

Listening to the game as it is being run, even when it is not my turn, is FUN!

I’ll be honest, listening is sort of a masochistic thrill. Sometimes you get something, understand a clue, pick up on what’s going on and you’re helpless, unable to say anything, do anything since you’re technically not there. And I love that. It’s part of what makes it fun for me. Realizing that there is a plot twist that’s headed my way and I can’t do a thing because my character is unaware of it.

Most rpg books open with a short paragraph or two about how rpgs are part of a storytelling oral tradition. I’ve never quite forgotten that claim and I’d like to add that in order to tell a story, you need an audience. So whoever my GM is, as long as I get a chance, I will listen, because I want to be a witness to the entire thing, not just my slice of the pie.

Found on March 27th 1875, Devils Creek in Yellowstone, Canada. Aurora has a muscular build. She is strong and isn’t afraid to show it. Being from a northern land, she has the thick fluffy double-coat that is characteristic of a timber wolf and Siberian husky. Her coat is a mix of dark and light browns and black and grey highlights. The coat naturally well groomed, hiding some of her wild feral features. Her eyes are of a purple-bluish color that shines blue in the daylight and purplish in the night or moonlight. Aurora has a knack for getting her nose into anything, being curious of nature. Still having some of the pup syndrome in her, she often filches things she is curious about.

This story is a legend that came long before man, for his own selfish ways, shunned the truth. Long in the past when the world was a bit more pure. Times were wolf and man lived side by side as brothers. Man and wolf grew apart, and now wolves don’t choose man as its companion anymore. But one wolf has… and this… this is her story.

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Years ago while I wandered around the library as a teenager I stumbled upon a little book called Little Fuzzy. It was probably one of the books that made me love reading and still holds a place of endearment along side books such as Dune and Magician. Having never read any of Mr Scalzi’s work I was extremely nervous heading into this one. The original is quite a book and manages to be many things all at once: a science fiction story, a story of a man finding himself and a purpose, and a piece on the importance of protecting the environment. Could this one live up to the original?

Yes in some ways, no in others. The author did a great job putting his own mark on another author’s intellectual property, but this one did not venture into the deep mental processes of what was happening on the planet nor what could happen to the fuzzies. Sort of glosses over the issue of environment devastation in just a few short passages. The original, least to me the young reader, seem to have more weight and depth.
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