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Not actually a lot to write about this week. I'm in the middle of reading The Neutronium Alchemist, which has been a really enjoyable read so far. Its a thousand page book, though, so that's simply not going to happen overnight.
Wednesday night I had the character creation session for my new Star Wars game. I'm going to be playing with the Saga edition rules - I picked up the rulebook on a lark a few months ago. It turns out, the book is really good. In terms of production values, one of the best. They're using a non-standard size, but the book is full color inside and all the illustrations are nice. Every book in the line, so far in fact, has had similar production values.
The rules set is not bad either. The biggest problem with Wizard's first edition of Star Wars was that it, quite simply, felt entirely too much like D&D in space. Proceeding editions have slowly worked on fixing that issue with Saga, I believe, being the pinnacle. The number of classes has been reduced pretty drastically - there are now only five classes - Jedi, Noble, Scoundrel, Scout, and Soldier. Instead of this cutting down the amount of flexibility that you have with a character, however, they have actually managed to increase this. They do this via talents - trees of abilities that characters get access to gradually as they gain level. Talents turn out to be one of the primary ways they add new things into the system - every sourcebook has new talents for at least some of the classes. Two nobles can, therefore, look very, very different.
Skills have been drastically changed as well. There are fewer of them, I believe. There is also no concept of skill ranks - you do not get skill points each level. You are either trained in a skill (in which case you get a +5) or you aren't (in which case you don't get a bonus, and might not be able to make a check at all). You get an initial set of trained skills at character creation - additional trained skills come from taking a feat.
The combat system has been tuned a little - characters add 1/2 their level to damage pulls, for instance. Vitality and HP have again been combined, but a new condition track has been added to represent situations that HP doesn't model very well. Heroes (as Star Wars calls characters) are much more resilient - all characters can basically regenerate half their HP once a day, for instance. Heroes also get access to destiny points, which can drastically change a situation. Starship combat, as before, seems to work pretty much like character combat, with a few added wrinkles. They added a dogfighting system, for instance, that is really the equivalent of character grapples. A supplement (Starships of the Galaxy. Amazon link not included because it is literally impossible to find a copy of this book. I tried.) includes a system that gives PCs access to maneuvers that give them an edge in combat. It also provides the concept of linking your PC's destiny with their ship (ala Han Solo) and a ship modification system.
Jedi have, also, been revamped pretty extensively. Jedi do get talents which are based on the Force. They also have a Use the Force skill which gives them some abilities. The vast majority of their abilities, though, are going to come through Force Powers - these are the traditional abilities of the Jedi. The caveat being that a character can use a power once per encounter. I haven't checked to see if you can pick up a power twice.
All in all, I'm really happy with this game. The caveat being that I haven't actually run a game with the system yet - I'm eager to see how well it goes.
In addition to reading lots of Star Wars, new comics were also released this week.
( Spoilers Within )
Wednesday night I had the character creation session for my new Star Wars game. I'm going to be playing with the Saga edition rules - I picked up the rulebook on a lark a few months ago. It turns out, the book is really good. In terms of production values, one of the best. They're using a non-standard size, but the book is full color inside and all the illustrations are nice. Every book in the line, so far in fact, has had similar production values.
The rules set is not bad either. The biggest problem with Wizard's first edition of Star Wars was that it, quite simply, felt entirely too much like D&D in space. Proceeding editions have slowly worked on fixing that issue with Saga, I believe, being the pinnacle. The number of classes has been reduced pretty drastically - there are now only five classes - Jedi, Noble, Scoundrel, Scout, and Soldier. Instead of this cutting down the amount of flexibility that you have with a character, however, they have actually managed to increase this. They do this via talents - trees of abilities that characters get access to gradually as they gain level. Talents turn out to be one of the primary ways they add new things into the system - every sourcebook has new talents for at least some of the classes. Two nobles can, therefore, look very, very different.
Skills have been drastically changed as well. There are fewer of them, I believe. There is also no concept of skill ranks - you do not get skill points each level. You are either trained in a skill (in which case you get a +5) or you aren't (in which case you don't get a bonus, and might not be able to make a check at all). You get an initial set of trained skills at character creation - additional trained skills come from taking a feat.
The combat system has been tuned a little - characters add 1/2 their level to damage pulls, for instance. Vitality and HP have again been combined, but a new condition track has been added to represent situations that HP doesn't model very well. Heroes (as Star Wars calls characters) are much more resilient - all characters can basically regenerate half their HP once a day, for instance. Heroes also get access to destiny points, which can drastically change a situation. Starship combat, as before, seems to work pretty much like character combat, with a few added wrinkles. They added a dogfighting system, for instance, that is really the equivalent of character grapples. A supplement (Starships of the Galaxy. Amazon link not included because it is literally impossible to find a copy of this book. I tried.) includes a system that gives PCs access to maneuvers that give them an edge in combat. It also provides the concept of linking your PC's destiny with their ship (ala Han Solo) and a ship modification system.
Jedi have, also, been revamped pretty extensively. Jedi do get talents which are based on the Force. They also have a Use the Force skill which gives them some abilities. The vast majority of their abilities, though, are going to come through Force Powers - these are the traditional abilities of the Jedi. The caveat being that a character can use a power once per encounter. I haven't checked to see if you can pick up a power twice.
All in all, I'm really happy with this game. The caveat being that I haven't actually run a game with the system yet - I'm eager to see how well it goes.
In addition to reading lots of Star Wars, new comics were also released this week.
( Spoilers Within )
(no subject)
Aug. 20th, 2009 09:22 pmThursdays have been kind of turning into my geeky media posts. I think I'll keep going with that.
Having already bought Auron, I ordered the corresponding Yuna figure from E-bay last week. It arrived today. I'm still pretty amazed at the detail put into these figures - both Auron and Yuna's costume are pretty much perfect. The detail on Yuna's skirt and Auron's costume are amazing - complete down to the presumed effect of wind. Jilly helped me set them up on my bookcase and they look really great. I might order the Tidus figure next, but I think next month I will be picking up Saint Walker.
Finished The Reality Dysfunction over the past week. This is about of thousand pages of space opera. I'm always a fan of books with sweeping, long-ranging plotlines that effect lots of characters. I've seen it done badly, though - generally when characters are added and then simply forgotten. Peter Hamilton doesn't make that mistake. Every single character introduced in the book has fairly significant play, and has a definite role to play in the plot. This comes with the exception of a single character, but its made very clear that she's going to be playing a huge role in the next book. That said, I shouldn't be saying this more than once in a year - you wouldn't think a plot involving the returning dead and a space opera would mix very well, but it totally does. I've got The Neutronium Alchemist and am reading it now. It is, again, a thousand pages.
And, of course, there were comics released this week.
( Spoileriffic! )
Having already bought Auron, I ordered the corresponding Yuna figure from E-bay last week. It arrived today. I'm still pretty amazed at the detail put into these figures - both Auron and Yuna's costume are pretty much perfect. The detail on Yuna's skirt and Auron's costume are amazing - complete down to the presumed effect of wind. Jilly helped me set them up on my bookcase and they look really great. I might order the Tidus figure next, but I think next month I will be picking up Saint Walker.
Finished The Reality Dysfunction over the past week. This is about of thousand pages of space opera. I'm always a fan of books with sweeping, long-ranging plotlines that effect lots of characters. I've seen it done badly, though - generally when characters are added and then simply forgotten. Peter Hamilton doesn't make that mistake. Every single character introduced in the book has fairly significant play, and has a definite role to play in the plot. This comes with the exception of a single character, but its made very clear that she's going to be playing a huge role in the next book. That said, I shouldn't be saying this more than once in a year - you wouldn't think a plot involving the returning dead and a space opera would mix very well, but it totally does. I've got The Neutronium Alchemist and am reading it now. It is, again, a thousand pages.
And, of course, there were comics released this week.
( Spoileriffic! )
(no subject)
Oct. 25th, 2008 12:55 pmSo I've been watching the new Clone Wars series on Cartoon Network as its gone though. Its pretty good, actually - I've been impressed. One interesting point - this is totally not GI Joe or something light. They have absolutely no compunction against, for instance, in killing characters on screen when its dramatically appropriate.
All in all - its a good series.
All in all - its a good series.
Jin & Margulis
Jun. 11th, 2008 08:44 amSince I was thinking of that game on the way to work today, I shall now inflict it upon all of you. Nya.
Am currently pretty sore after a busy, productive weekend. But that's alright. Had to take care of a fire at work right after getting out of bed - having saved the day, then took a shower and actually drove into work. Worked on getting translations for our Action Planning system in place - the XML support in SQL Server 2005 is the bomb. Simply the bomb.
I do, though, have plenty to do. I need to:
write a DC report
plan a Forsaken game
write up a plotkit for Nick
submit the high approval app for Happenstance's FC x3 (which means writing his background)
possible run some sceneage with
fix the Penfield Player's website
mow the lawn
I also am rather determined to get to Aikido on Tuesday and Thursday this week, since I failed to get there in May. Bad John! Beatings!
In terms of reading - I've been pounding my way through the New Jedi Order series. I'm most of the way through Star by Star, and can pick up the next book right after that. Starting to contemplate reading material for the cruise. May place an order for some Hornblower, Patrick O'Brian, or something else for it. Or just pick up some more Star Wars. Basically - light reading. I doubt I should be reading up on WPF on a cruise. If I try, I think the book might end up in the ocean.
I do, though, have plenty to do. I need to:
write a DC report
plan a Forsaken game
write up a plotkit for Nick
Petrus/Alek/Noemi,
Happenstance/Twist,Happenstance/Quest,
Happenstance/his Cabal,
mow the lawn
I also am rather determined to get to Aikido on Tuesday and Thursday this week, since I failed to get there in May. Bad John! Beatings!
In terms of reading - I've been pounding my way through the New Jedi Order series. I'm most of the way through Star by Star, and can pick up the next book right after that. Starting to contemplate reading material for the cruise. May place an order for some Hornblower, Patrick O'Brian, or something else for it. Or just pick up some more Star Wars. Basically - light reading. I doubt I should be reading up on WPF on a cruise. If I try, I think the book might end up in the ocean.
Black Sunday
Jun. 1st, 2008 03:39 pmThis is an awesome summary of how DirectTV's coders managed to carry out Black Sunday. Christop
her Tonovsky == brilliant and cunning.
her Tonovsky == brilliant and cunning.
Geeky things that are awesome
May. 27th, 2008 03:45 pmThings that are awesome - taking a LINQ db query against the database that returns a set of users. Do some calculations, realize that you need to refine the list a little. Do ANOTHER LINQ query - this time not against the db, but against the collection that the first LINQ query returned.
Boo-ya.
Boo-ya.
