MAKING:

Obviously, I’m not blogging as much these days. Mostly this is due to the fact that I’m busy fairly actively searching for new freelance clients, along with trying to spend some time teaching myself some of the latest design techniques so that I’m more marketable. But I’m also happy to report that some of my non-blogging time is being spent doing something I haven’t done in years – preparing to run an rpg campaign. Specifically, I’m running Swashbucklers of the 7 Skies. So in terms of “making”, I can share with you the following Website that I’ve added as a sub-site to Canon Puncture that will be a log and resource area for our S7S campaign: http://www.canonpuncture.com/swashbucklers

ENJOYING:

Last Friday I was in St. Louis for a family reunion that was capped off on Friday night by a Cardinals ball game at the new Busch Stadium. It was my first time in the new stadium and my first time ever in a “party box” – a half-inside/half-outside section with its own bar and snack counter all served up as part of the ticket price, which I did not have to pay. The Cardinals won, the nachos, hot dogs and BBQ chicken were quite good (I think I ate 7 cheese-dogs), and the beer was … well it’s Busch Stadium, so the beer was all Bud products i.e. watered-down American barley-piss, so I was having none of that. But still, it was a very nifty evening with about 12 members of Leah’s family and a night off from parental responsibilities (the kids were all back at the hotel supervised by Leah’s teenage nieces).

Not much going on TV-wise since many of the shows I enjoy are done for the summer. I’m very glad Chuck is coming back, I hope Castle does as well, and I’m looking forward to new Burn Notice episodes coming soon. Other than that, I think it’ll be a light summer for television viewing in our house.

I saw Wolverine while in St. Louis. I actually liked it better than the reviews of my peers led me to expect, but it was entirely on the performances of the actors and not because the action or story were all that compelling. I definitely would pay to see more of Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool and Taylor Kitsch was awesome in the few minutes he clocked in as Gambit.

READING:

I’m waiting for my library to receive two books I’ve got on reserve – one of them being the new Dresden Files novel – so while I wait for that I decided to augment my S7S prep by re-reading one of my all-time favorites – Bard by Keith Taylor. It is semi-historical fantasy written in the 1980s that hews closer to R.E. Howard than J.R.R. Tolkien, and although I won’t claim it is stellar literature, it still clings to my story-loving heart even though this is now the fourth time I will have read it. It is not well known – Taylor is an Australian author and the series of five Bard novels apparently never really took off here in the States, but I really love books 1-4 and highly recommend them to anyone who might enjoy a sweeping series of yarns about an Irish Bard named Felemid mac Fal who starts off his adventures in post-Roman Britain and then ventures on to become the companion of a female Jutish pirate-queen for the next three books in the series. Yes, that’s right: an Irish bard and a woman pirate adventuring in a magic-is-real version of Northwest Europe in the 6th Century. The writing would have to be pure shit for me not to like that. But it is actually pretty good writing, in a pulpy-fantasy sort of way. Even after four readings, it holds up.

PLAYING:

Tonight Rich and I finish up Burning Wheel: Rome with Ogre Whiteside. Honestly, it is really a shame and a kinda big ball-drop for me not to have blogged about last week’s session already, because it was one of the best nights of roleplaying I’ve had in a long while. Rich wrote some stuff about it over on Canon Puncture but I really ought to have elaborated on it myself by now, I just haven’t taken the time.  Maybe a big overall wrap-up post is in order after tonight’s game brings the series to it’s conclusion. I’ll try. I’ve got lots to share about it.

Next Wednesday, we begin Swashbucklers of the 7 Skies, our long-awaited and much-anticipated campaign. As I mentioned above, I’ve added a swashbuckling sub-site to Canon Puncture to act as a campaign log and you are all invited to follow along as we move through pre-play planni ng and into actual play over the next several days.

I’m also playing in a Spirit of the Century game with Mark Kinney, Clay Karwan, and Andrew Black. We had one meeting and it went really well. Unfortunately, we had to cancel the Thursday night game this week but we’re planning on getting back to it next week.

Hey, it’s the same story we often hear from many of the blog/podcast personalities we follow. Life happens.

But hey, I’m going to try to get in a MERP entry before I go run errands…

Making:

I had a very productive meet-up with David Moore in Chicago last week and we got some VAM stuff clarified. Progress is slow, but there IS progress. In fact, part of why I’ve done less blogging/tweeting is that I’m trying to use what free moments I have to flesh out VAM stuff. However, I’m also very excited about playing a long campaign of Swashbucklers of the 7 Skies with the Canoneers (and a couple pals) next month and as a result, I’m doing something I haven’t done in quite a while – I’m making maps. See, one of the best things about Chad’s S7S setting is that he leaves so much of it open for play-group customization and imagination. For example, in the S7S text the Barathi Empire is given just enough detail to create lots of neat hooks and provide rich flavor, and the geographical features of Barathi are sketched out with broad strokes rather than inked in with minute details. The details are left for individual groups to paint in. This is the sort of setting/situation providence that some people might not think is enough – but I love it. It gives me inspiration to add details to my taste and the tastes of my play group. And the first product of that inspiration is an early as-yet unfinished draft of a map of the cloud island of Barathi. It is based upon the broad description that Chad provides in the book, but is infused with my own vision of what would be cool to play with. I’ve uploaded a small sample image of it that you can view by clicking the thumbnail in this paragraph. But remember, it is not finished yet. I also plan to map out several other places – because we’ll be playing a skyship crew that will travel around a lot and Barathi is certainly not going to be the focal location of our adventures.

Enjoying:

I’ve loved this season of Lost. No apologies. And the finale blew me away (except that Jack’s rationale for what he is doing is kinda thin. I look forward to the final season next year, although I admit, in general most of the sci-fi/fantasy TV series featuring long-form story arcs and unfolding mysteries tend not to end as well as they deserve. Lost will probably be no different.

Reading:

Oh, it’s been a good couple of weeks of fiction for me. Not only am I reading and really enjoying The Steel Remains by Richard K. Morgan (I’m almost finished and I’ll share more once I’m done), but my trip to Chicago also enabled me to “read” the audiobook version of Christopher Moore’s Fool – his wry and bawdy take on the story of King Lear as told through the eyes of Lear’s Fool. Absolutely brilliant. The reader is a guy named Ewan Morton and he totally brings it. And the novel itself just rocks. It hit me right where I live – the fool as protagonist. The misfit hero. Excellent stuff.

Playing:

Rich and I have begun our stint of Burning Wheel: Rome with Ogre Whiteside and we’re set to kick it up a notch tonight and really get things going. Rich is playing a Romanized African warrior based loosely upon Djimon Hounsou’s character in Gladiator, and I’m playing a guy named Sapius who is a Roman clown/scout/agent provocateur who is more than he seems. Right up my alley. Also, last night I got together with Mark Kinney, Clay Karwan, and our new friend Andrew Black to make characters for Spirit of the Century. Mark is going to run that for us and if last night is an indicator, it’s going to be a good group and a fun game. Andrew is new to the hippie stuff and he took to collaborative character creation, Aspects, and pulp tropes in a big way. I think we have a new fledgling hippie gamer on our hands. Oh, and did I specify that this was all in-person, at an actual table? Yeah. First time I’ve played face-to-face with people since last GenCon.

Oh, that reminds me …

I will now officially publicly share that I’ve decided not to go to GenCon Indy this year. It is a hard choice, but it is a right choice. That turns out to be a rather important week for our family this year, and I choose to be with family. More details on what alternative cons/visits I might be able to get to instead will follow.