R.I.P. George Carlin
He was funny in the 60s, hilarious in the 70s, and kept on getting funnier and more relevant all the way through the end. We'll miss you, George.
June 23, 2008
June 16, 2008
Pwnage, v4.0
So I finished my first full night of 4th Edition D&D last night (prior nights had been "Let's check out the rules and play the test module" and "Let's all roll characters," respectively), and it's actually pretty fantastic. There have been some criticisms, certainly, but so far, almost all the changes in 4th Edition have been good.
Highlights:
* Class Balance: Spellcasters are no longer useless wusses at level 1. They're also no longer overpowered at later levels. The opposite is true of melee classes, so everyone can contribute at every level, and no one gets bored. Nice.
* Fast, Tactical Combat: Combat has been completely reworked, allowing (essentially requiring) everyone to take an active part. And with at-will actions doing greater damage than auto-attacking, even the melee types are making several active tactical choices each round. Add in some tactical specialist classes (Warlord and, to a much lesser extent, Clerics), and you really have much more dynamic, interesting fights. There really is a "tide of battle," and teamwork is far more rewarding.
Did I mention "fast?" Because I should have. Combat is at least 50% faster. We had 9 people at the table and got through 2 major combats plus a ton of backstory and out-of-game snacking in the time it would have taken us to get through one fight back in 3.5.
* Roles and Builds: Straight out of an MMO, to be sure, but it works. A party should have at least one character in each of 4 roles: Protectors (tanks), Strikers (dps), Leaders (healers/buffers), and Controllers (cc/aoe). Each class specializes in one of the roles, but you can build your talent tree to take you toward a more personally interesting place within your role. For example, my Cleric (Leader) is speccing Battle Cleric, so I get to beat on badguys (which creates buffs for party members and debuffs for enemies) while still performing healing on the side as needed, but without getting bored--and still getting the satisfaction of caving in some skulls. There's a lot more "play what you want to play, how you want to play it," and with some attention to detail, you can make it work.
The verdict:
Good times. Combat was about as fast as raid encounters in WoW, with all the added trash-talking, pretzel-eating, and fun of a tabletop RPG.
And Jarlan the Cleric pwns.
June 4, 2008
Chicken. The New Broccoli.
WTF?
May 28, 2008
WORD (of god)
Testify, beeatch!
As they dress in the mornings, they should replace them with the spiritual Armor of God to protect them in their daily activities."1
1 NOTE TO DEMONS AND OTHER FOUL AND UNCLEAN TYPES: One might take this to mean that kids are unprotected by the man upstairs at night. Go eat some souls!
May 19, 2008
Happy Birthday to Me (or "Yar! Why Rachel is a Pirate's Ninja!")
So the birthday was this weekend, and while 37 isn't really a noteworthy milestone (beyond being in my late 30s, rather than mid), this was really one of the best yet. All sorts of things went right, and thank you to everyone who sent emails, cards, texts, or calls (particularly that Happy Birthday song voicemail). Thank you to Hair of the Mangy Dog for a present I'll never use (at least on myself). Thank you to Kate Danley for guilting my entire sketch class into singing this morning. But most of all, thanks to my ninjette, Rachel, for a fantastic birthday weekend and the most epic of presents ever--my own, custom-sculpted pirate action figure.
Word. That picture of me to the right is, in fact, a snapshot of my 12" pirate action figure Rachel commissioned from my favorite figure-making homies:
Sculptor: Jon Stevens
Mold/Cast: Jon Stevens
Paint: Scott Akers
Project Co-ordniator and general Dude-in-Charge: Jed Haigh
If you want one of your own, email jhaigh@valyrianresin.com.
It's fantastic. I'm a freaking pirate. And an action figure. And a pirate action figure. Jed, John, and Scott--you guys rock. Rachel--you rock worlds--mine and every other world with half a lick of sense or cool.
Did I mention that I'm a pirate action figure? Pictures here.
May 12, 2008
Why We Need Birth Control
No public transit system should have to employ human-packers. I mean, I like Pokemon and all, but eff that.
April 23, 2008
Nasreddin teaches the donkey to speak...
It's been some time since I updated the blog. Let's have a brief recap, shall we?
My new girlfriend continues to stick around and lick my skull (see above-right). She kicks ass like a dual-Thunderfury ninja on energy drinks.
My unemployment is over. I now know many more central Asian parables than before, thanks to Dr. Boris Krakov, my Uzbeki spirit guide.
Sketch comedy continues, and I should be performing at the LA Comedy Fest if nothing explodes.
And a great big WTF to the writers of BSG. How dare you do what you did when you did that thing that you did? I'm trying to avoid spoiling it for anyone who hasn't seen it, but doods--you halved the female eye candy in about 4 minutes. How dare you? And without any Summer Glau or Jewel Staite for me to fall back on. Cruel.
March 21, 2008
I Love The Onion
March 5, 2008
Just in time for Passover
March 4, 2008
R.I.P. Gary Gygax
MILWAUKEE, Wisconsin (AP) -- Gary Gygax, who co-created the fantasy game Dungeons & Dragons and helped start the role-playing phenomenon, died Tuesday morning at his home in Lake Geneva. He was 69.
He had been suffering from health problems for several years, including an abdominal aneurysm, said his wife, Gail Gygax.
Gygax and Dave Arneson developed Dungeons & Dragons in 1974 using medieval characters and mythical creatures. The game known for its oddly shaped dice became a hit, particularly among teenage boys, and eventually was turned into video games, books and movies.
Gygax always enjoyed hearing from the game's legion of devoted fans, many of whom would stop by the family's home in Lake Geneva, about 55 miles southwest of Milwaukee, his wife said. Despite his declining health, he hosted weekly games of Dungeons & Dragons as recently as January, she said.
"It really meant a lot to him to hear from people from over the years about how he helped them become a doctor, a lawyer, a policeman, what he gave them," Gygax said. "He really enjoyed that."
Dungeons & Dragons players create fictional characters and carry out their adventures with the help of complicated rules. The quintessential geek pastime, it spawned a wealth of copycat games and later inspired a whole genre of computer games that's still growing in popularity.
Funeral arrangements are pending. Besides his wife, Gygax is survived by six children.
From http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/03/04/obit.gygax.ap/index.html
We'll miss you, Gary. You made it OK to be a geek like me, and that means a lot.
