Acta Diurna

FVLMINATA Update

Mon, 17 Mar 2008 16:04:22 GMT

The Ides were not kind to my wife, who suffered a broken leg while playing soccer. Now that old St. Patricius is here and INRI's resurrection is upon us, I do have some good news to report: barring any more emergency room visits, the updated draft of the IB Hibernia chapter will be sent to Conall for final review by this time next week. This is a major milestone and it feels good to be this close.

Up next: biting the bullet and purchasing the upgrade my layout software, updating the web site and making final edits to the other chapters.

The sleeper has awakened!

The Sleeper Has Awakened (or Thawing from Hibernation)

Mon, 10 Mar 2008 17:47:51 GMT

Updates on my progress soon now that I have fixed my baleful eye on the sun in DST.

The Second Coming
by W.B Yeats

Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.
Surely some revelation is at hand;
Surely the Second Coming is at hand.
The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out
When a vast image out of Spritus Mundi
Troubles my sight: somewhere in the sands of the desert.

A shape with lion body and the head of a man,
A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,
Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it
Reel shadows of the indignant desert birds.
The darkness drops again; but now I know
That twenty centuries of stony sleep
were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?

Sidebar: My Crazy Theory About Zing! Comics

Wed, 03 Oct 2007 18:48:03 GMT

Zing! was one of the more notable failures in the comic industry (comparable to Shooter’s New Universe fiasco). Its firebrand publisher, Emma DiMare, personally oversaw the transformation of underground cult favorite Zinger Comics into the more mainstream Zing! Comic Studio that focused on anthropomorphic characters aimed toward a younger audience, akin to the Star Comics imprint that Marvel created in 1984.

Zing! launched four titles in 1989: Mach Turtle: Fighter Ace; Pork Chop: The Karate Pig; El Quacko: Hero of the People and Welsh Rabbit: Private Eye. None enjoyed commercial success, although the later issues (#14-#22) of Pork Chop are collector’s items as they featured Geraldo Rodriguez’s groundbreaking layouts in the backup Hamonrai the Samurai segments.

Upon DiMare’s death in 2002, the comic industry discovered that she was also Dino Maggia, one of the most respected comic book artists of the Silver Age. Why is the use of a male pseudonym important? Because “Dino Maggia” had been a major player in Cable Publishing Group’s horror titles in the 1950s. After rereading a bunch of Zing! stuff, I’ve noticed connections between those two imprints. You can make a strong case that DiMare saw the Zing! characters as part of the CPG universe. In fact, I think she intended for them to be the actual “comics” that people in the CPG universe read. Retconning wasn’t in fashion back then, so this is pure speculation on my part. However, the same place names crop up in Mach Turtle and Edge of Mysteries. That can’t be mere coincidence.

FVLMINATA Update

Tue, 02 Oct 2007 20:42:06 GMT

Slow progress, unfortunately. Assigned to new large project at work which requires beaucoup time. Note to self: must update website (new release date – 2008), including recently discovered PDF highlighting the major differences between the first and second edition.

Good news! I finished my Hibernia edits and will be finished with the druid section by this weekend. I then plan on sending to Conall for his feedback…

Bad news! My version of the InDesign software doesn’t support the cool template that Daniel made. Looks like I’ll be investing in an upgrade.

Next: Salamander Corps update!

Darkpages Update

Fri, 14 Sep 2007 17:05:14 GMT

Finished the rough draft of the Vigilante analysis from my theme-based history of supernatural comics. I've begun the outline for the Vampire analysis (yes, I'm doing them in reverse order). So far, pretty thin because of the Comics Code Authority. However, the fact that Galactus is technically a Vampire always makes me giggle.

As for rules stuff, still need to revisit the goals and canon rules with Jared.

Next: FVLMINATA updates from today's activities.

Avengers Round Up!

Thu, 13 Sep 2007 12:34:21 GMT

A quick report on my Tuesday reverie (the designated day for such ruminations).

In honor of 3:10 to Yuma, apparently the latest worthy addition to the Western genre, I plopped the Avengers into a Wild West setting. Mix in Deadwood, perhaps Deadlands, steampunk and the tone of Marvel’s Ultimate line for savory gaming.

Base of operations: the frontier town of Excelsior – a group of concerned citizens (“The Avengers”) band together to protect the innocent. In typical Western fashion, local law enforcement is incapable or unwilling to confront the lawless bandits that harass the townsfolk. Where is U.S. Marshal Nick Fury when you need him?

Enter Steve Rogers, Captain (ret.), former Union cavalry officer. Can he find peace now that the war is over? Will the ghosts of his past haunt him? Or, worse, will ex-Confederate renegades seek Rogers out? What happened to Colonel Johann “Red Skull” Schmidt anyway? Anthony Stark is easily reimagined into a railroad baron who experiments with steam technology to create a bulky, yet formidable ironclad battlesuit. Manservant Edwin Jervis doesn’t really need a costume change. Thor is tricky, whereas his alter ego is not. Perhaps a more radical take on the duality: Thor Odinson is the bare-chested blacksmith, a Swedish immigrant and the husband to Dr. Donna Blake, medicine woman.

Hawkeye works best as a Lakota warrior who forbears firearms, taking up the traditional hunting weapons of his ancestors. Completing the roster of “Avengers”: Mysterious gunfighters Henry Pym (who wears a yellow duster, natch) and Janet Van Dyne (aka “The Wasp”). Future additions to the team would come from the ranks of reformed outlaws and drifters. The rebellious children of industrialist Erik Maximoff: riverboat gambler Pietro (infamous for his quicksilver reflexes) and Wanda, the dance-hall girl in scarlet ruffles that possesses an unhealthy obsession with the occult.

Next – Darkpages (activity from Wed, Thu) and FVLMINATA (activity from Fri) updates.

Discipline!

Thu, 30 Aug 2007 17:22:19 GMT

Now that school has restarted, my life is returning to its normal routine (which is to say, incredibly busy at work and home, but the schedule is predictable). To reinforce this, beginning tomorrow, I've decided to focus my hobby efforts so that I will be able to achieve goals on multiple fronts:

* Mondays are TBD. For now, I rest.
* Tuesdays will be devoted to random gaming thoughts, such as my Economist inspirations and mashups.
* Wednesdays and Thursdays: Darkpages
* Fridays: FVLMINATA
* Saturdays and Sundays: Salamander Corps

I will do my best to document my progress on these fronts with an LJ entry as well.

Surrender Dorothy: An Alternate Oz

Tue, 28 Aug 2007 18:24:26 GMT

I’m still decompressing from Gen Con. I haven’t been able to articulate my observations as of yet. Of course, when I do, it will be stale news.

This Sunday I watched The Wizard of Oz with my kids. Although I’ve seen it a million times, I continue to discover new things. Sure, Anna and Erik provide a fresh perspective as they ask questions (Anna: Why doesn’t the Scarecrow and the Tin Man fall asleep from the poppies? Me: Because they don’t breathe air like us. Anna: But they’re just people in costumes.) But the movie is truly magical. For the first time I took notice of the white ball caps emblazoned with a green “Oz” that some of the workers at the Emerald City Wash & Brush Up Co. of Oz wear. The last time I saw the film I caught the infamous continuity goof where the Wicked Witch of the West mentions the insect that she sent to soften up Dorothy and her pals to take the fight out of them. This contemplation led my imagination to some strange places, including an alternate movie:

Dorothy and Toto arrive in Oz outside of a sinister castle surrounded by Winkie guards at rigid attention. Locasta⁽¹⁾, the Good Witch of the South, explains to Dorothy that she has freed the Winkies from the cruel tyranny of the Wicked Witch of the West. After a rousing military march and musical number (“O-ee-ah, ee-o-ah, Hail Hail The Witch Is Dead”), the Wicked Witch of the East appears in a swirling mass of blue smoke and lightning. Deathly pale, the Witch of the East wears a black eyepatch, a crooked blue hat, a blue jacket with a wilted flower boutonniere, a patchwork vest, candy-striped stockings and shiny ruby slippers⁽²⁾,. Somewhat rattled by the death of her sister, the Witch is far more interested in claiming the Golden Hat from her sister’s corpse. Locasta magically transfers the Hat onto Dorothy’s head. The Witch vows revenge and leaves the way she came.

Dorothy expresses her desire to return to Kansas, Locasta advises her to seek the great Wizard of Oz in Emerald City. The Winkie Captain volunteers to escort her on the dangerous journey through the dark woods. The Winkies sing their farewells with booming voices (“You’re Off to See the Wizard”).

Dorothy and the Winkie Captain come upon the camp of the dejected Winged Monkeys. Their King explains that they are willing to serve Dorothy, but had hoped to return to their faraway kingdom. The goodhearted Dorothy gives the hat to the Monkey King and wishes them a pleasant journey home. In song (“If I Only Knew My Home”), the grateful Monkey King sadly tells her that none of the monkeys can remember where home is. Dorothy suggests that the Monkey King accompany them to Emerald City, for the great Wizard certainly knows where their kingdom is.

On the road, the group happens upon a pair of Winkie bird-catchers whose wagon is stuck in a ditch. After successfully freeing the Winkies, the Winkie Captain lapses into melancholy and confesses in song (“If I Only Had My Home”) that he hopes that the Wizard can help him restore his own village to its former status. The Wicked Witch of the West had leveled it to build her castle.

Finally, the trio reaches the dark woods and encounters the reclusive Jitterbug who is spying on them. After coaxing him out, they all dance while the Jitterbug croons (“If I Only Could Go Home”), describing his fear of returning to his people after being gone so long and changing so much.⁽³⁾

Dorothy and her new friends reach Emerald City and are greeted warmly (“The Merry Old Land of Oz”). After some hair styling, uniform embellishing, fur trimming and carapace polishing, the image of the Wicked Witch of the East fills the sky above and repeated lightning strikes etch the ominous “Surrender Dorothy” into a wall. The group finally meets the Wizard, who orders them to retrieve the ruby slippers if they ever want to return home.

In the Dark Forest, Kalidahs⁽⁴⁾– ferocious beasts that are chimeras of lions, tigers and bears⁽⁵⁾ – attack and leave the Winkie Captain, Monkey King and Jitterbug for dead. Dorothy and Toto are bundled up and dragged to the phantasmagoric tower⁽⁶⁾ of the Wicked Witch of the East, where Dorothy is tortured by singing Munchkins to reveal the location of the Golden Hat since the Witch cannot believe that Dorothy willingly returned the cap to the Monkey King. Meanwhile, Dorothy’s companions ambush some Tin Soldiers patrolling the Yellow Brick Road. Now in disguise, they break into the Tower to free Dorothy, only to be cornered by the the ruthless agents of the Lollipop Guild and the hypnotic sirens of the Lullaby League and. To break the Lullaby enchantment, Dorothy throws a pail of water on her friends, splashing water on the Witch, thus liquidating her.

The Wizard is exposed as a fraud, but strives to honor his promises. The Wizard grants the Winkie Captain the official deed to the castle of the Wicked Witch of the West, explaining that a man’s castle can be his home. The Wizard then explains that the Witch’s ruby slippers have the power to transport all of the Winged Monkeys back to their kingdom. The Wizard instructs the Jitterbug that “insect metamorphosis is a phenomenon shared by all of his brethren”. Change is natural and the Jitterbug has adapted according to his nature. The Jitterbug will be pleasantly surprised to find that his friends back home will not only recognize him, but will resemble him.

As the hot air balloon carries the Wizard away, Locasta reappears and informs Dorothy that she had the power to return home all along. The Golden Hat would have forced the Winged Monkeys to fly her to Kansas, but it was noble and kind of her to help her friends find their way home as well. After all, there’s no place like home.⁽⁷⁾

Footnotes
⁽¹⁾ Reversed, I know. In the books, Glinda was the Good Witch of the South, not the North as in the movie. The true name of the Good Witch of the North is a debated subject. I chose Locasta (Baum’s stage description) over Tattypoo (from non-Baum novels).
⁽²⁾ Silver in the books, I know. This is an alternate movie.
⁽³⁾ As the lyrics assert, he “was just a pu-pa/in grade school-a/being smacked by a rule-a”.
⁽⁴⁾ These are in the book and briefly mentioned in the film. Really! They are cool!
⁽⁵⁾ Oh my!
⁽⁶⁾ Nightmarish interior set design inspired by the 1920 film The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari.
⁽⁷⁾ “I think I'm going to miss you most of all, Jitterbug.”

FVLMINATA Updates and New RPG Announcement

Fri, 10 Aug 2007 18:21:49 GMT

FVLMINATA
I made some serious (well, for me at least) headway in the past few weeks:

(1) I am about 40% done with the Hibernia chapter editing and writing. My goal is to send the revised text back to Conall for review/approval before Labor Day. A lot of the research/background notes for the chapter will be relocated to the first chapter.

(2) Daniel Solis has delivered the full template and cover design for printing. Once the text is finalized, I will begin layout.

New RPG: Salamander Corps
Salamander Corps is a game about intergalactic champions who wield the power of stars to defend civilization from annihilation. It's inspired by my love for Green Lanterns, Lensmen, Kree Imperial Militia, Warlock, Star Brand, Nova and Quasar. The strategic mechanics focus on balancing the Corps' goals with your homeworld's. The tactical mechanics simulate futuristic police work: solving "mystery* sets" and controlling "patterns" of energy. Oh, and it uses Icehouse pieces as energy units. It's cosmic, man.

The ultra-talented Jon Morris is doing the artwork and logo design. When the new website (www.salamandercorps.com) debuts later this year, I promise more previews. If you're impatient, one of the universe's baddies was posted weeks ago here.

I'll have playtest materials at GenCon for the curious.

*A "Mystery in Space", natch.

Thyrsus Games Updates on Friday

Wed, 08 Aug 2007 14:01:02 GMT

One will be a status report on Insulae Britannicae for FVLMINATA.

The other will be the announcement of my new RPG in development - playtest materials for said project will be at GenCon for some ad hoc gaming.

Oh, and I found my Parthian Frontier campaign folder from 2003-2004. Well, I'm excited even if you aren't!

FVLMINATA Update

Mon, 18 Jun 2007 15:08:25 GMT

Missed Friday due to a work emergency.

So good news and bad news, folks.

Good: I am still going to GenCon!
Bad: I missed my deadlines for having Insulae Britannicae ready for GenCon. This is is disappointing to say the least. However, unlike five years ago, I march onwards. No giving up this time.
Good: Daniel Solis is designing the interior layout for IB. Once I have final templates, I'll post examples.
Bad: Work is getting really busy as of late and I can't predict a release date for IB at this time. Of the 30 hours I needed to find in May, I only found 5. I wonder if I could buy a day between Sunday and Monday, say "Starday"...?
Good: There is a good possibility that I'll have rough playtest materials for a new Thyrsus Games RPG ready for GenCon.

More info to come!

Extinction Vortex

Tue, 12 Jun 2007 20:28:00 GMT

An update on FVLMINATA this Friday…

My periodic post on gaming ideas inspired by an issue of The Economist. From the June 2nd – 8th issue:

p.88: Conservation policy: Trading down

"Thus populations ultimately disappear when their demography crosses an invisible point of no return, descending into what conservationists call an ‘extinction vortex’."

p.90: The Cambrian explosion: Crystal clear

"…The common ancestor of all multicellular animals possessed [skeleton-forming carbonic anhydrase] and that it, therefore, was the ‘killer application’ that allowed the animal kingdom to radiate and conquer..."

The idea of a genetic mutant directly competing with the human race is not new to speculative fiction. The Mule from Asimov’s Foundation series. Vampires. The homo dominant from the TV series Prey. And of course the X-Men (and its various knockoffs, e.g. Mutant X, Heroes). So what will be (or is!) the killer app that will propel mundane humanity into the ultimate death spiral? Super-strength and endurance? Pheromone mastery? Psychic powers? The Lazarus gene?

But who says it has to be mutated humans that acquire the killer app? See Planet of the Apes. See War with the Newts. Hitchcock’s avians make a fierce play for world domination. The dinosaurs from Jurassic Park are a retro-mutation that threaten our existence. What about artificial intelligences - witness SkyNet from the Terminator franchise.

All good ideas, but let’s go for something different. The next killer application will be four-dimensional perception or “quantum sight”. The temporally-enhanced can actively sense and process all possible local events roughly six seconds into the past and six seconds into the future. They would be formidable opponents in any endeavor – debate, negotiation, war, sports and games. Not sure how you would model their special ability in a standard roleplaying game – I’m sure it would have to be some kind of meta-rule that could be abused easily. Any thoughts?

FVLMINATA Update

Fri, 11 May 2007 19:18:43 GMT

Surprisingly, I'm still on target to complete final writing and edits by end of May. I've reviewed chapters 2 (Britannia) and 3 (Caledonia) and I only have about 2-3 hours writing there. Chapter 1(Intro) is incomplete and will need 10-20 hours. Chapter 4 (Hibernia) needs a once over (2 hours) and the druid section finished (5 hours). Then I send off to Conall for final edits.

So, I need to find 30 hours between now and May 31...no problem!

June is layout, indexing, etc. targeting a July send to printer for Gen Con in August.

Dragons in the Earth

Tue, 08 May 2007 20:03:10 GMT

An update on FVLMINATA this week…I promise!

My periodic post on gaming ideas inspired by an issue of The Economist. From the May 5th – 11th issue:

p.99: The evolution of language: Gestures of intent

"Evidence that the first words were movements, not sounds."

Surprising perhaps no one, a recent study suggests that expressions are innate to a species and gestures are learned. Furthermore, gestures apparently developed prior to speech. Thus, non-verbal language remains critical to human communication.

To make a long story short, this article revived memories of an old game idea that I never submitted for a 24 hour design contest:

Back in the day, before Apollyon Noir became a future imprint for Darkpages, I was working with Luke Crane on designing a Napoleonic game using the Burning Wheel engine. I flaked out, but I’m happy that some of the ideas from those working sessions made it into BW proper. One idea that we didn’t explore too much was adapting the syllabic spell casting mechanic into naval signal codes. I felt that limiting player communications during combat might help simulate the “heat of battle”. In a funky Star Wars campaign that I once ran, the PCs infiltrated a smuggling ring by pretending to be rare-element miners. On an ice planet, they piloted outlandish mining vehicles (each had a specific function: seeking rare minerals, fighting marauding icewinders, digging and hauling). The vehicles had no voice coms – the only way for the PCs (and the players) to communicate was to use a limited button set that represented objects and verbs, such as “Hauler Defend Beacon” or “Seeker Seek Ore”. The resulting play was tense, especially as new information was only available to select players and it was frustratingly difficult to pass the updates on to the group. By the way, the funky Star Wars campaign was eventually mined for Runaway Rocket, a chapter in Against the Reich!, a supplement for octaNe.

In Drakon, you play Soviet pilots of a titanium, nuclear-powered Drakon-class subterranean armored assault craft, tunneling through the earth’s crust in an alternate future where the Soviet Union never collapsed. It’s a tactical game in slow motion as titanium rotors chew through bedrock and launch drill-tipped missiles.

To survive the extreme heat and pressure, pilots are immersed in a perfluorocarbon oxygen rich liquid (as featured in The Abyss), which prevents normal radio exchanges. Communication via tectonic carrier wave using a limited codebook, a la “Enigma”, typed with the left hand while the right hand controls the dragon. Sonar contacts are designated by name and number. For example, “Dragon 1” is a friendly below surface contact. “Beetle 2” represents an enemy surface contact.

The enemy in this case, is the US of course with its Hades-class underground attack vessels, capable of diving into the upper mantle. They can launch Starnose torpedoes, superheated microwave pulses and tremor depth charges. The Drakon’s defenses include carbon wire nets, echo decoys, and seismic pulverizers. In addition to enemy activity, pilots must face earthquakes, radiation leaks and gel depleted of oxygen.

Darkpages Update

Fri, 04 May 2007 15:42:53 GMT

Finished with the following sections of the Glassworks imprint: King's Gate, The Annex and Germantown. My favorite thing from Germantown:

Germantown's spiritual activity, like its cultural makeup, is a weird blend of myths and religious beliefs. The residents hold an annual holiday ("The Tempest of Toads") complete with carnivals to commemorate a torrential flash flood in 1952 that dumped thousands of toads onto the streets. While local politicians and community leaders throw rubber toads to giggling children at the big parade, spectators snack on a wide variety of ethnic dishes.

The final section is the eponymous Glassworks which features the sacred and profane dynamic duo Black Collar and Mercy. Time to start channeling Frank Miller and Andrew Vachss again. With the playtests and Jared's recent rule updates, it's finally coming together.

The Secret Life of Bees

Wed, 02 May 2007 01:44:07 GMT

Darkpages and FVLMINATA updates will be posted on Friday this week...

My periodic post on gaming ideas inspired by an issue of The Economist. From the April 28th – May 4th issue:

p. 92: Dying Bees: Buzz off
In case you haven't heard, bees are disappearing at an alarming rate. It's called Colony Collapse Disorder or CCD for short. Theories as to root cause seem to slant toward existing political agendas. For many, it must be man's fault: pesticides, cell phones, wireless broadband or corn syrup made with genetically modified corn. Others blame the usual suspects: malnutrition, parasites or disease, perhaps an immunovirus like HIV (Hive?). Crazy conspiracy theories include: (1) shadowy government/military experiment to test new pathogens (recycled plot from X-Files) (2) a Masonic/Mormon/Merovingian plot of some kind (3) extraterrestrial exodus (aka "So Long and Thanks for All the Pollen") or (4) religious rapture of the chosen bees (Judgment Day, insect style).

Craziness! Of course, it sparked a game idea.

For Queen and Colony
The Elizabethan era in a fantasy microcosmos. You play the ruling nobility of a bee colony. One PC is the Queen and the others are her drone courtiers, each with a specific duty to defend the hive. Thus, the primary roles:

Queen
Matriarch of the colony; focuses on social and diplomatic issues, such as peace treaties, tribute from subject nations and succession planning.

Hive Commander
Grand marshal of the soldier bees; focuses on physical threats, such as wax moth raids and hivebeetle infestations.

Spymaster
Intelligence chief; focuses on hidden dangers, such as hive-odor infiltrators and foulbrood bioweaponry.

If you have additional players, the primary roles can be split into secondary roles:

Vizier
Ambassador and envoy; assumes Queen's diplomatic functions, such as consulting with the mayfly oracles and receiving delegations from other insect colonies.

Swarm Commander
Air group leader; takes over Hive Commander's outer perimeter responsibilities, such as repelling assassin bugs and slaying monstrous dragonflies.

Alchemist
Master of the secret arts; assists the Spymaster in unconventional warfare, such as the "Black Queen" necromantic dance and battling vampire mites.

Since drones are stingless, the characters would need to rely on their cunning and political capital to perform their duties. In some cases, ordering soldier bees to perform a task, in others, making deals with rival factions of drones devoted to one of the potential future queens still in larval stage. Like the TV show 24, game play would be fast-paced. Events would continue to pile up, designed to create stress and impetus for the players to act or be overwhelmed.

Beta Version of FVLMINATA.com

Thu, 19 Apr 2007 14:03:50 GMT

Tomorrow I will be releasing the Beta version of the FVLMINATA website. I'm slowly learning HTML; it's fun but time consuming.

FVLMINATA.com Relaunches!

Sun, 25 Mar 2007 17:55:40 GMT

FVLMINATA: Armed with Lightning

Bare bones graphics are up for the website. Working on adding links and content. Remember Rome wasn't built in a day...

Comments always appreciated.

Insulae Britannicae - Cover Art

Fri, 16 Mar 2007 15:49:43 GMT

A preview just for you! Happy St. Patrick's Day - because good old Patricius just so happend to live in the Insulae Britannicae.

Tu quoque, Brute, fili mi!

Thu, 15 Mar 2007 15:33:32 GMT

The Ides of March have arrived and looking back to last year I find that while I have missed many of my FVLMINATA goals, I have made some progress.

GenCon 2007: Once again I will be attending GenCon to promote Darkpages and Insulae Britannicae. Additionally, I plan on bringing copies of the core FVLMINATA rules and dice. Booth details to follow as they firm up.

FVLMINATA.com Website Relaunch: I have a host. I have the software. I have the graphic design. Thanks, Daniel. Now I just need to apply webmastery 101 to get the site running.

FVLMINATA Rules Redesign: Jared Sorensen and I kicked around many ideas about how I could revamp FVLMINATA employing game design tips and techniques I’ve learned in the past five years. Very cool ideas. However, I have made the decision to move on for now and leave the rules as is. If I had to do it all over again, I certainly would have made different decisions, but that’s what new games are for, right?

Insulae Britannicae: Come Hades or high water, the British Isles supplement will be available at GenCon as a physical book. After the convention, it will be available as a PDF or POD artifact to online shoppers. What I have left to do: (a) finish the Druid section in the Hibernia chapter, (b) edit and augment the four chapters (Intro, Britannia, Caledonia, Hibernia), (c) finish the Appendices (d) layout the text, illos and maps (e) layout the cover and (f) create index and table of contents. Not much, right? If you’ve worked on a book before, you know that the devil is in the final details.

Future FVLMINATA Plans: In addition to hosting fan-created material, I will be posting free supporting documents on the FVLMINATA website, similar to the Bis Torquata PDF adventure. I am determined to reenter RPG publishing in the PDF/POD market with smaller-scoped projects. I am itching to publish my thoughts on Rome and the Parthian frontier…

Beware the Ides of March...

Wed, 14 Mar 2007 17:11:33 GMT

for FVLMINATA news will be posted tomorrow!

Enter...The Weaver!

Tue, 13 Feb 2007 00:30:12 GMT

I have a huge affection for the DC/Marvel Amalgam Comics experiment – despite some of its duds (Super Soldier, Doctor Doomsday), it was an inspired move. Of course, I would have done things differently...

Bartholomew “Barry” Parker is a wounded American veteran of the Great War, having been subjected to a curious mixture of chlorine, phosgene, mustard and tear gas. Battlefield medics found him shivering, covered in a swarm of stinging insects apparently driven mad by the chemicals. After a slow recovery, he returned to his home only to discover that he possessed amazing new abilities. Now, in the Roaring Twenties, he fights urban crime and international threats as the Weaver.

The Weaver has insect-like powers including superhuman strength, agility and endurance. He can also shift into the temporal frame of reference of an insect, allowing him to move faster than the blink of an eye.

Notable adversaries:

Abraxas (Punisher/Abra Kadabra)
A swordsmage exile from ancient Atlantis who knows 10,000 ways to kill a man.

Aegypto (Sandman/Gorilla Grodd)
A living statue of an Egyptian baboon imprisoning the soul of a graverobber.

Black Opal (Black Cat/Golden Glider)
A notorious and beautiful jewel thief.

Carrion Crow (Vulture/Trickster)
A psychotic vigilante with a flight harness.

Flintlock (Kraven the Hunter/Heat Wave)
A big game hunter proficient in archaic weaponry and crude explosives.

Flying Fox (Green Goblin/Captain Boomerang)
An ex-Luftwaffe flying ace who wears grotesque goggles and rides a V-shaped mini-plane.

Gyro (Doctor Octopus/The Top)
A mad scientist encased in armor that becomes a spinning machine of death.

High Voltage (Electro/Weather Wizard)
A summoner and wielder of lightning.

Magic Lantern (Mysterio/Mirror Master)
A mystic adept at creating illusions and phantasmagoric effects.

Narwhal (Rhino/Captain Cold)
A German U-Boat commander with a freeze cannon.

Recluse (Venom/Reverse Flash)
A fellow veteran who has the same abilities as the Weaver, but not the same morals.

Salamander (Lizard/Doctor Alchemy)
A fire elemental that regenerates and transmutes matter by touch.

Snake Charmer (Scorpion/Pied Piper)
A hypnotic master of deadly snakes.

Triptycchio: A Little Wooden Portrait

Mon, 22 Jan 2007 17:44:42 GMT

Three reimaginings of children’s books.

Goodnight Nobody
The world grows dark. Our mortal embers turn to ash as we whisper hush with our dying breath. Why does one pair of mittens move? Of the comb, brush and bowl of mush, which of these represents the true nature of the soul? The metalink to a fugitive rabbit is a red herring and thus, the most important clue of all. Goodnight Moon by Albert Camus

Cthulhu George
A derelict steamer drifts into New York harbor. The crew missing. Odd bloodstains on the decks and in the cabins below. The only living thing onboard is an odd creature, crated in the hold. Part-human, part-ape, the beast known only as “George”, at least according to the doomed ship’s logs, cannot be calmed. That is, until a strange gentleman appears dressed all in yellow. Dubbed “The Man in Yellow” by the papers, the mystery man takes George into his custody. Is George a missing link? The last of the Australopithecus race? A pre-human refugee from a sunken island continent? Why does his curious behavior and disturbing language drive men to insanity and suicidal acts? Curious George by H. P. Lovecraft

The Paragon Panther
Now that the Broccolis have done Casino Royale*, the James Bond movie franchise has officially run out of Ian Fleming original Bond tales to inspire new movies. But aren’t we overlooking Fleming’s other masterpiece? Yes, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Granted, the children’s story needs to change to suit adult tastes. Ditch the title and rename to Paragon to honor the name of the original racecar (“Paragon Panther”) that is tinkered into Chitty. The basic plot of gun-runners operating on British soil can simply be updated to homegrown terrorists. The character of Caratacus Potts could be Q before he became Q. Hmmm, yes, the inventor of a top secret military vehicle is kidnapped by terrorists and Bond to the rescue. Lots of ways to work in the chase to France and the subsequent meet with the chef’s family. Especially if the chef is transformed into a Bond girl with a risqué name. Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, the lost Bond book

*The first version with David Niven doesn’t count. Don’t argue – I won’t listen.

Exoform Farm

Mon, 08 Jan 2007 20:57:41 GMT

My weekly post on gaming ideas inspired by an issue of The Economist.

From the December 16th – 22nd issue:

p.84: Paleontology: Triassic bark

"What makes the [ciliates and amoebae] in this Triassic amber intriguing is that, under the microscope at least, they appear identical to modern examples."

The focus of the latest fossilized amber finds is on the microscopic organisms trapped in time. One oft forgotten precept of evolution is that stasis is the norm - change only comes about if the variation is better equipped to survive in the prevailing conditions and successfully passes its mutated genes to a new generation.

Ok, so let's assume that the dinosaurs were wiped out by a massive asteroid impact. But what if the coup de grace wasn't the natural disaster itself. Yes, the dino species were decimated by the climactic change and subsequent starvation, but the asteroid itself contained a genetic virus that tweaked the evolutionary paths of all creatures great and small. Essentially, humankind is the product of an extraterrestrial breeding program that spans millions of years. This isn't new, but most sci-fi deals with exomorphing as a rapid threat - for example, Ian McDonald's Evolution's Shore deals with an alien "bloom" of mutating genetic code that takes over the planet.

Which brings us to the applicability to a modern-day conspiracy game - this could be one of the secrets that Man Was Not Meant to Know. Millions of years ago, an alien species sent out biological weapons to seed the galaxy with sentient lifeforms. Why did they do this? Was each virus different? Are we simply one experiment of many? Are we the control group? What is the next stage of the experiment? Knowing how most lab animals end up...

Or, as Star Trek canon tells us, is this the reason why all lifeforms are bipedal humanoids? Are we intended to be slaves? Food? Shock troops for a horrible war? Or spare bodies for beings of pure energy? What the hell is going on?

Oliver Twist, Auror Primus

Thu, 28 Dec 2006 17:17:21 GMT

In lieu of my weekly game idea based on an Economist article, I submit a Dickens/Rowling mash-up. Perhaps you have noticed that the peculiar names of characters in the Harry Potter novels are taxonomically similar to those in Dickens novels (or Wodehouse as well!). Sirius Black, Cornelius Fudge, Martin Chuzzlewit and Mr. Pumblechook could all inhabit the same universe. And it would explain how Jacob Marley returned from the dead – he was a Hogwarts-trained wizard of course.

After a harrowing set of adventures, nine-year old Oliver Twist seemingly lives happily ever after having been reunited with his savior Mr. Brownlow and his long-lost aunt Rose. But what if that was just backstory, or more accurately, a prequel?

On Oliver’s eleventh birthday (1840), an owl delivers the invitation to Hogwarts, and seven years of magical adventures begin, including brushes with the dwarf Quilp, Stagg the blind mystic, Solomon Gills and the Crummles theatre troupe. His familiar, a hearth cricket named Dolbear, is his constant companion. He also forms a close friendship with the Potions professor, Hermes Redlaw, who is haunted by the ghost of his future self. The series culminates with Oliver founding the Order of Aurora (later to become the Aurors) in 1848 to combat the criminal underground of London which has been infested with rogue wizards and dark beasties. The Artful Dodger (aka Jack Dawkins) and Charlie Bates return as the main villains. Other antagonists include Nicodemus Boffin (aka the Golden Dustman), John Jasper and Grandfather Smallweed.