RPG Superstar 2010, result

So we finally got the results of the first round of RPG Superstar 2010.

As expected, I didn't make the top 32, but I did manage to get some unofficial feedback on my submission. It didn't turn out to be too bad; only some game mechanics were not right (the item seemed to be way too expensive for what it could do). Personally, though, I think it also lacked serious sex appeal to be RPG Superstar quality, especially compared to what did make it to round 2. But I'm learning and I'm definitely going to compete again next year. At least it felt good to accomplish something for myself and seeing it through to the end, however small it may be (more on that in a future post).

Anyway, for those of you who are interested in what I wrote, here's my entry. Be warned that if you've never played Dungeons and Dragons, this may all sound very geeky. But if you have, then feel free to use it in your campaign.

Chi-Yan's Wondrous Whetstone of Wounding

Aura moderate conjuration; CL 10th

Slot none; Price 16,000 gp (1/week), 36,000 gp (2/week), 64,000 gp (3/week), 100,000 (4/week); Weight 2 lbs.

Description

The wondrous whetstone of wounding resembles a simple whetstone for sharpening swords, axes, lances, or any other kind of edged melee weapon. When it is applied to a magic weapon however, it sharpens it and also imbues it with the wounding special ability. The whetstone does not grant a magic enhancement bonus on the weapon; the weapon must already have a magic enhancement bonus of at least +1. The weapon also gains a moderate conjuration aura. Both ability and aura remain for 24 hours. When this time has passed, the ability and aura disappear and the weapon returns to its state before the whetstone was used.

Depending on the power of the whetstone, it might apply this special ability a number of times per week. Once all uses are expended for that week, the whetstone’s magic becomes dormant and the whetstone temporarily becomes mundane. The number of times such a whetstone can apply its ability depends on the power of the stone; the price is determined based on this number of applications. Different applications per week per whetstone need not necessarily be applied to the same weapon.

Other whetstones exist that can imbue other abilities. Whetstones that apply abilities with a higher base price modifier, according to table 15-7 of the Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook, take up one price slot higher and allow one less application per week for each modifier point over +1. For example, a whetstone granting speed (+3 modifier) exist in a 64,000 gp version (applicable 1/week) and a 100,000 gp (2/week).

Construction

Requirements Craft Wondrous Items, bleed; Cost 8,000 gp (1/week), 18,000 (2/week), 32,000 (3/week), 50,000 (4/week)

Master! Master!

It's been years since I've played my guitar, but I'm sitting here right now with 'The Axe' on my lap. I've pulled up a tab of Master of Puppets by Metallica and am practicing away at the intro riffs.

I must say, after years of inactivity, I haven't lost much of my previously acquired 'skills' (actually, I'm reluctant to call it skills, because I'm far from good, but I can find no better word for it... perhaps 'basics' would be more fitting?) The left hand on the fretboard can almost keep up with the original (albeit quite messy), but the right-hand picking needs A LOT of work still.

Roleplaying on the Wave

Almost everybody in my branch must have heard about Google Wave by now -- the new "communication and collaboration platform" developed by Google. Even though it's still in beta stage, many people already benefit from its uses. It hasn't replaced any of my trusted tools yet (MonkeyGTD as a ToDo-application, TiddlyWiki as an information designing tool, Evernote for collecting tidbits of information, and plain ol' OpenOffice for writing documents) but I have found a fun use for it.

My roleplaying group has started a small old-school-style Swords & Wizardry campaign on Google Wave using the whitebox ruleset. The story and actions progress in a play-by-post manner, and are completely improvised -- not only by the DM (which is me in this case) but also by the players. They have as much the right and responsibility to drive it forward as I have.

I must say it's a fun way to relax in the evening or during a lunch break, and it's a perfect opportunity to practice my ad-lib creativity.

If you're interested in following the story or maybe joining or starting one yourself, leave a comment on this post and I will invite you to the Wave.

RPG Superstar 2010

Following ancient tradition -- I'm guessing three years now -- Paizo has kicked off this year's RPG Superstar design contest, an event in which everyone interested in RPG design can compete in several rounds for the title of Superstar. It's an excellent way to make a name for oneself and get a foot in the door for a professional career in this excitingly creative business. The winner gets to write a 32-page adventure module commissioned and published by Paizo.

And in following up with my previous post "RPGs for a living?", I've joined in.

In the first round everybody's allowed to participate. We were asked to submit a fully fleshed out wondrous magic item in 500 words or less, following the rules and style of Paizo's latest flagship product Pathfinder Roleplaying Game. Out of all these submissions, 32 will be elected to go on to the next round to design something else (they won't tell yet what exactly, until the first round is closed on January 19).

I don't expect to get very far into the contest this year due to time constraints, but I see this as an incentive to actually work on something RPG related and an opportunity to learn about professional design and publishing. However, I do have ambitions to win this contest at some time in the future and land a professional career in RPG design, so I plan to compete every year from now on.

Wish me luck.

Fast Forward

It's been a while since I posted something useful on this blog, so evidently a lot has happened since. Instead of making this a four and a half page long discourse of recent (and not so recent) events, I'll try to keep it short. I've had a weird run-in (or should I say 'run-over') with a cat, bought a new car and a new computer, and lost my job.

About the cat, I'm currently trying to write this story down, so in a while you might see it appear on this blog. It's worth the wait, believe me.

Our old car was not going to pass the safety inspection, so we got a new Opel Zafira TD 1.7 family vehicle, and it's a joy to drive around in. The more buttons in the cockpit, the happier I am.

My old computer was slowly dying on us, so we got a quad core 2.33 GHz with 6 GB of RAM and an NVIDIA GeForce G210 from Hewlett Packard. It looked like a nice piece of machinery, except for the fact that it didn't have any wireless network controllers built in (which I only discovered after purchase at home). Not a big problem 'per se' because I still had a PCI wireless card lying around, were it not for the fact that this particular HP model didn't have any PCI slots. At all. I was baffled. So I had to drive around looking for a PCI-Express wifi card, which exists but was nowhere in stock -- nobody uses these anyway. I came home in the end with one of those shitty USB wifi sticks, which cost me another pretty penny on top of the new PC. But hey, we're online again and we've got a pretty decent loadout that can run all my favorite 'oldies' flawlessly at maximum graphical detail (Thief 3, Oblivion, Unreal Tournament 2003, ...), albeit with a considerate shortage of available USB ports.

And the job at Larian Studios, well... Suffice to say I got my 3 months notice and a load of crock to justify it. I was 'unwilling and unable to do enough overtime' and I was the 'most expensive developer at the company', so I've learned. I wasn't trustworthy enough anymore to start on a new project. Well, here's my side of the story: I've dedicated more than three years to that company. I've neglected my son, my daughter, my wife, and my own health for Larian. I've spent more than 8 months straight in crunch mode, which was 2 months longer than any of my colleagues -- despite the fact that I was the only one with a wife and 2 children (one of which was in pediatric intensive care for a week, by the way) and I was the only one suffering a daily 4-hour commute all that time. There were times when I left for work at 7h45 in the morning, to come back only after 23h00 in the evening, catch a little sleep and leave for work again -- for days in a row without even seeing my children. Deadlines kept being pushed back, so we basically had one each week. I was way short on sleep and stressed beyond recognition, but apparently that still wasn't enough. That's what I put into this company, and now I got my reward. And to top it all off, I got official word that the company was moving to closer quarters (after me lobbying for it for three years) that would have reduced my commute from 4 hours to 1, in the EXACT SAME conversation in which I got fired for not being able to work longer. Go figure.

However, I am really grateful that I no longer work at Larian Studios. Sure I miss the colleagues and the coolness of 'making video games', but I haven't been more relaxed since I-can't-remember-when. I'm extremely relieved that I don't have to deal with the bullshit any more -- all the broken promises, last-minute feature changes and plannings turned upside down are now behind me. I won't have to be dragged down any longer in the low morale that's oozing in those hallways after finishing Divinity II. Despite not having found a new job yet, I feel a hell of a lot better!

It sure feels good to get this off my chest. The ranting's over now, I promise -- no hard feelings anymore. I do wish the best of luck to all the guys and the one girl at Larian Studios for the next Divinity title (or what else lies in wait), because they are definitely going to need it in the years to come. I look forward to buying and playing their future games and I wish to thank Swen for giving me the opportunity to live my dream, even though it was a short one. Thanks guys, and so long!

People

The major problem -- one of the major problems, for there are several -- one of the many major problems with governing people is that of whom you get to do it; or rather of who manages to get people to let them do it to them.

To summarize: it's a well known fact, that those people who most want to rule people are, ipso facto, those least suited to do it. To summarize the summary: anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job. To summarize the summary of the summary: people are a problem.

From "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy", by Douglas Adams.

RPGs for a living?

I'm currently at a seriously intimidating -- if I may call it that -- yet exciting crossroad in my life. Part of it is that I will be quitting my current job in a couple of months and I have to find some other source of income before then.

At the same time, two people from the RPG blog-o-sphere (namely Johnn and Yax) recently started up a program, called The Gamer Lifestyle to help aspiring RPG enthousiasts make money out of their productions, ideas, and what-not. A sort of virtual RPG company incubator, if you will.

Now, I'm not saying I can make a living out of RPGs alone -- I'm not the entrepreneur type, and not comfortable with managing a business -- but I do like the idea of receiving some extra pocket money off the back of my favorite hobby.

I was thinking I would concentrate on creating content (mainly adventures) and publishing them on a blog. In fact, I recently had to design a quick side adventure for the D&D4 campaign we're playing in (our DM is taking some time off, and I'm cutting in for a session), and I was pretty amazed at how fast I could make a pretty decent adventure (about three train-trips to/from work). Okay, I admit, I had to 'borrow' a skill challenge from the excellent SkillForge, but I did tweak it to better fit my mini-story. Also, I already have a cool name for the blog.

I will first try to come up with some more material, and if I'm sure I can keep it up, I might start with this idea.

All siked up!