Jumping into GMing

GM Screen

GameMASTER. The title itself has a way of excluding about half the population, and that fact is reflected in every game shop and on every convention floor. The number of female gamers may be rising, but the number of female GMs is still pathetically low by comparison. This has to change if we are going to continue to grow as a demographic.

GMing is something that every gamer should do at least once. It's an incredibly educational experience, and even if it doesn't end up being something that you stick with, you will be a better gamer for giving it a try. I was terrified the first time I ran a game, and consequently over prepped my game. It was a 4e game, based in a fantasy ocean world that I created called Nenesto. I had such a blast coming up with the NPCs, the cultures, and the challenges! I completely fell in love with the creative process and the power... THE POWER!! MWAHAHA... ahem. To date, I have run more than twice as many convention games as I have played in. Once the GMing bug bites, it doesn't let go, girls!

I have never run an adventure path or company published scenario for a group of players. I know that a lot of GMs start this way, and it can be very enjoyable. I've had a blast playing in many published campaigns, but I find that it is harder to run a game like that than just create my own world. No, I'm not crazy. Actually, I would argue that it would be easier for most people once they got over their fear of trying. Think back to when you were a kid. You had to study and practice the information that people gave you to learn, but you always could remember the smallest details about the stories, games, and worlds that you dreamed up yourself. It's much the same with self-created gaming worlds. I created the details of the world, so it's harder to forget them or mess them up... and if for some reason I do mess up, it's really easy for me to change to world to accommodate my mistake.

But how does one start to attempt such a daunting task as creating a game from scratch? First, you need to find a group of (kind) players. I was lucky enough to already have a gaming group that encouraged me to try GMing, but if you aren't so lucky, try recruiting friends and family members. Even if you end up running a game for two people who aren't gamers, it will be great practice and break the ice for you. Actually, running your first game for non-gamers has it's advantages. They are less likely to notice your mistakes, and you get a lot of practice explaining the system mechanics to them. I do not recommend running your first game for a group of strangers at a gaming store or convention, because you never know what type of players you will get.

Book

After you have your players, pick your system. It should be a system that you are pretty familiar with, ideally one that you have played a lot. I recommend this because the more you know about the mechanics of a system, the easier it will be to tailor a good story around it and keep your game running smoothly. Have most of the basic combat and skill stuff memorized or on cheat sheets so you don't waste your players' game time looking stuff up. Cheat sheets are your friend! I'm convinced that's why the GM screen was originally invented. Another great trick is to have more obscure combat rules other important information marked so you can easily find it. Your mind will go blank at some point and it's great to be able to quickly find that info. My Wild Talents book is covered in multicolored sticky tabs for this very reason. Your players will appreciate your efficiency and be impressed that you are so prepared. Make no mistake, they will always do the one thing that you can't remember the mechanic for... darn players!

Step three, create your world based on something you know and love. Most likely the system you picked has errata with details about races, monsters, kingdoms/cities, etc. Feel free to use it or lose it. Don't feel that because you are running a DnD game that you HAVE to have dwarves, elves, and all the usual DnD suspects. Maybe your world only has humans, or maybe it takes place completely underground in the dwarven cities. It is YOUR world. Also, don't be afraid to go in a completely different direction than the game designers intended. One of the most successful games I have ever run was a Wild Talents game (a superhero system) about the Salem Witch Trials. The poor puritans started developing powers and panicked because they assumed it was the devil's work. What made it so great? I picked something I knew well and was passionate about. I'm a history teacher by day, and my love for the setting made the players equally passionate. You know your game is a success when they are standing up in the middle of a convention room yelling at each other completely in Gmingcharacter, and completely oblivious to the other games around them. It's those moments that I live for as a GM. Do you know everything about Tolkien's elves? Are you a huge Firefly fan? Could you write encyclopedias about vampires in your sleep? Those will be your most successful games. (This also comes in handy when you have a really knowledgeable player! One of my players for the Salem game had recently taken a class on the Witch Trials, so it was a good thing I knew my stuff!)

After you have your system and your world imagined, start refining it into a (somewhat) linear plot. Just like writing stories, start with a basic outline and then slowly add in the details. For your first time, stick to a one-shot game that can be completed in four to six hours. Remember, the world that you created can be used again and again so all that prep isn't a waste for one game. Your adventuring party might save a specific kingdom from a demon, but there are many more kingdoms for them (or other players) to explore! Don't feel like you have to cram all of your creative material into one game. Keep it secret, keep it safe, then use it later.

I will be providing more helpful advice on GMing specific types of games in future posts, but the first step is always the hardest. Don't be afraid to "borrow" ideas from your favorite source material and realize that you will make mistakes, and that is ok! Be secure in the knowledge that EVERY GM screws up sometimes, and jump in with both feet.

(This article was originally posted on CharismaBonus.com)


Acquiring Accents for RPGs

Accents are one of the most powerful tools in a role-player's arsenal. Using them can make characters stand out at the gaming table, and differentiate between in character and out of character comments. They can also be the difference between a good GM and an incredible GM who truly immerses players in their world. Why narrate a story? Bring out your inner thespian and BECOME your story.

First of all, research whatever accent you'd like to try, or shop around for an accent that you can mimic fairly well. One of the best tools for listening to accents is the internet, specifically videos. Search for "regional dialect meme" on Youtube and you will get a ton of options from all over the world. This meme is particularly helpful because it includes many words and sounds, but it also includes regional terms. For example, is it "soda" or "pop"? These terms can be awesome little details to add to your characters and really unify a group of characters that are from the same place.

Remember, it's ok if you aren't perfect at first, and you really will get better as you go. Hell, it's an RPG! Unless you are playing a historical game, who's to say your accent isn't perfect? Maybe the people from that land over the mountains sound exactly like your bad Jamaican accent. There are a large number of Russian/Irish accented characters in my games... who start to sound more Irish as I drink. Go fig.

Why do we all sound the same?!?

Accents are regional, not racial. In a recent season of the Happy Jack's RPG Podcast, another host started speaking like a southern character from one of our games. The character was named Windy Drawers, and he was a sloppy, overeating, unintelligent politician. We instantly started receiving angry emails from people who were upset that we were depicting such an unflattering African American stereotype on our show, however we had never mentioned Windy Drawers' race on that episode of the podcast. In our game he was actually a rich southern white man, but listeners drew their own conclusions based on their own racial stereotypes. Let me say it again, accents are regional, not racial. They are determined by where you grew up and lived, not by your ethnicity or species.

This is a very important distinction that is often overlooked in gaming... and in the media. The stereotypical dwarf may have a Scottish accent, but if he was raised by elves (oh, the horror!) he will sound more like an elf than his dwarf kinsmen. Humans from different parts of the world should have different accents, and drow should not sound like surface elves... unless they were raised together! A good player or GM will use this in their games. An NPC shows up claiming to be from a local town, but speaks differently than everyone there... clue #1 for the party. Maybe it's your half-elf's first adventure with this band and you're getting to know them along the way? Your Irish/British/Russian/common accent tells them that you were raised by the human side of the family, not the elves. They add depth and complexity to a character instantly, that could only otherwise come from sharing written back stories or long in-game explanations.

Here are some easy tips for mastering an accent:

- Find a phrase that will immediately bring you back into your accent. Usually, this is something very stereotypical that you almost can't imagine being said in any other accent. For my Irish accent I use the phrase "Jesus, Mary, and Joseph!" because it's VERY Irish, and it's easy to fit into many different situations. It's like hitting the refresh button on my Irish lilt.

- Listen to your chosen accent as much as possible. Watch Braveheart 4 more times, or whatever movie has the accent you are trying to mimic. Audio books are also a great option since they are easy to get and reasonably priced. The more you hear the accent the easier it will be for you to imagine it in your head later when you are trying to use it.

- Practice! The more you use your accent, the better it will sound. Talk along with your favorite movie character with that accent, repeat commercials on the radio or read street signs while you're driving in the car. I practice in the car a lot because nobody can hear how awful I sound.

- Anticipate what words you are going to use a lot in the campaign and practice them extra! For example, if you are a German spy in a pulp game, you might be dealing with lots of military equipment, location names, etc. You will probably never have to use the words "elf", "dwarf", or "dragon", so stick to what you'll need. Bonus points for learning and using regional terms or words from their native language!

- Did I mention that you should practice? Seriously, do it. You don't want your first try at an accent to be while you're sitting at the gaming table. Trust me on this, I learned this the hard way.


Bringing Lara to Life

Lara Croft has always be an idol of mine. I was just entering adolescence when the first Tomb Raider game was released, and had just started to play video games. There was controversy over her sexy clothing and the rumors of a "Tomb Raider Nude Code" for every Tomb Raider release. People claimed that she was just a way to market to geek boys, but she was my gateway into loving video games as well. Lara was empowered and could kick some serious ass, but was always a lady at the same time. Classic Lara had used her considerable talents and wealth to chase her (very dangerous) dreams. It was her desire that drove her, and the love and respect she had for her father. She was one of the only female fighters who became a hero by choice, not because of a traumatic experience where they were victimized. (They have since changed this for the new Tomb Raider game, and it makes me very sad.) Also, she had major curves, was 5'9", and had really long dark hair. Talk about a girl I could relate to!

I was invited to participate in a cosplay event for E3, but I needed to wear a video game costume. At first I refused, due to my complete lack of video game cosplays. Then it dawned on me... LARA! I did a rough Lara costume a few years ago, but had a lot of work to do (in about a week and a half) to bring it up to the standards of my other cosplays. Now, LOTS of people do Lara cosplays. They are easily recognizable, even with small mistakes and inconsistencies. Wonder Woman without armor looks odd, but people don't really notice if Lara is missing her backpack, or if her boots are the wrong color. If you wear a aqua colored shirt, shorts, gun holsters, and braid your hair, you're set! However, I thought it would be a disservice to my favorite archeologist (sorry Indy!) if I didn't pay attention to the small details in classic Lara's outfit.

Boots
Lara's classic boots are brown. This is one of the details that most often gets overlooked because it is so easy to find black boots that approximate the design of Lara's. I don't make boots, so these were the first step in this cosplay process because I needed them to arrive in less than a week. They had to look rugged and utilitarian enough to be useful climbing through tombs. After extensive searching, I ended up getting these boots from Amazon.com.

Shorts
Reference pics differ slightly on the color of Lara's shorts, but most are either a dark Khaki color or a variation chocolate brown. Since I had some Khaki shorts that fit well already, I decided to customize them to fit Lara's style. The first step was getting them the right color. The shorts were dyed them with a combination of brown dyes to get the balance that looked the most like the reference pic to the left. I present the before and after pictures:

The dye actually wasn't absorbed into some of the thread of the shorts, which gave them some great (unplanned) texture and detail. After dying them, I shortened and hemmed them within an inch of their lives!

Shirt
Getting Lara's shirt to look right is all about tailoring. No shirt fits that well over a pair of large breasts without a few nips and tucks. I started with a Bella women's short sleeve shirt in seafoam blue, and basically remade it. I removed the sleeves and opened the neck more to imitate Lara's tank top. This gave it a pretty good fit, but it was still too loose around the waist and the arm holes had gaps due to the super-bra I was wearing (don't judge). I ended up adding darts to the front of the shirt to make sure it fit around the breasts well, and took in about a half inch around the waist area on each side. This gave it a much more fitted look that matched Lara's. I will have to be very careful with this shirt because any stretching will undo the work I put into fitting it perfectly.

Other Accessories
If you're still reading this, you must be planning your own Lara cosplay... or are hoping for some sexy finished cosplay pics. The rest of the pieces of the outfit I bought, mostly on Amazon and Ebay. I highly suggest looking in military surplus for brass belt buckles for a more realistic, but still classic Lara look. I found mine, and the leather backpack on Ebay. The backpack was actually a purse which required some alteration of the straps and a removal of a loop handle. The guns were the most difficult thing to find. I pieced them together off of Amazon finds, but have since found a great deal for Lara guns and holsters. These are almost exactly like what I ended up with, but actually are cheaper! I had to remove the upper leg strap on my holsters (just like with the pair I linked to above) in order to match Lara's classic look.

PRO TIP: Make sure your holsters have clips/ties/straps/etc that keep the guns in the holsters. There is nothing less Lara-like than sitting down and having your guns crash to the floor.

Styling
Last but not least, the famous Lara braid. I am very lucky to have incredibly long, dark hair. However, mine is layered and does not have the thick full look that Lara's does when braided. My solution was to buy a bag of weave hair at my local wig store. They usually run about $3, but you have to be careful that it matches your hair color well enough to look natural. It's not good quality hair, so it's not good for styling, but it worked well to braid in with my natural hair. I just attached it to some banana clips by folding it over and using tiny elastic bands. On the night of the event, I french braided my own hair and slowly clipped in the home-made extensions in with my own. It worked very well and matched perfectly.

I'm just starting to learn about makeup, and so (like all my cosplays) I did a youtube search for the type of look I wanted. I wanted her eyes to stand out a lot, just like in the games. I used the eye styling from this youtube video, but didn't use any of the other tips. Yes, it says it's styled after Kim Kardashian. Just ignore that, because the eyes look cool when they are finished.

And... you've got Lara Croft!


Hollywood & Heroes Charity Event

The Emerald Knights comic and game shop is hosting a huge event this Sat, June 9th from 12pm to 7pm. The event supports the Shriner's Hospital for Children, so join us for the fun and some good karma. It will be a day of games, signings, photo opps, and much more! Lots of geek-famous actors will be there, including members of The Guild, and over 40 cosplayers, including myself! There are also items being auctioned off on the EK auction page.

I will be dressed as Wonder Woman all afternoon. I will also be playing in some RPGs, spreading word about the Happy Jack's RPG podcast, posing for pictures, and visiting with everyone. Rumor has it that I may also be running a DC themed Wild Talents game...

I hope to see a lot of familiar faces on Saturday! More info can be found on the Emerald Knights website, or by contacting the shop.


Diving into Diablo III

After finishing Act II in Diablo III, I finally feel like I have experience enough of the game to write about it. I'm having a blast, but there are definitely some pros and cons to this long-awaited game.

First off, if you aren't playing in elective mode, you are playing with training wheels on. Elective mode lets you place any skill you want on whichever hotkeys you prefer to use. This gives experienced gamers a lot more flexibility, but also runs the risk of new players making unbalanced builds that could limit their effectiveness. I highly recommend that you turn it on as soon as possible!

PROS
- It's the familiar Diablo we all loved, but sexier. Like running into an old friend from middle school on your first day of college and finding out that he's an underwear model now...ahem... not that I'd know what that's like. Anyway, the game looks amazing.

- The classes are really great and well thought out. I'm playing a Monk and am having a great time. I frequently party with a demon hunter and a barbarian, and each loves playing their class just as much as I love mine. Each character's skills are very useful, but still fit with the theme of their class.

- Tiered difficulty is a great aspect of the game. The game becomes more challenging based on the number of people in the party, and this keeps it interesting.

- Friends! The battle.net friend system first appeared in World of Warcraft, but it's a wonderful addition to Diablo III. I can easily contact my gaming buddies and party up, and the transition from single player to multiplayer is almost seamless. It has all the perks of an MMO, but none of the spammers, monthly fees, or guild drama.

CONS
- Linear gameplay. Like... insanely linear. You can't even walk off the edges of cliffs because it would mess up the story. I expected this, but after Skyrim it took a while for me to get used to it again. It might be nice to have some extra side quests to help village people for some extra XP.

-  Incredibly predictable quests. You know exactly how things are going to play out within the first few moments of each quest. I'd like to have seen a bit more thought put into surprising us. "No way... the creepy mage with the menacing laugh ends up betraying us? Shocking... not."

- Overpowered PCs are a bit of a problem. I felt WAY overpowered in the beta, but that was expected. I still feel that I am rather overpowered as a PC currently, and have yet to really be worried in a fight. This makes the game lose some of it's excitement and challenge. The only thing that seems dangerous in the game is the poisons, and those seem too deadly for what they are! I'm still in "normal" difficulty, so this may just be softening players up for the horrors of the Nightmare, Hell, and Inferno modes. Hardcore mode is an option, but I don't feel like having a video game character's death be permanent.

- RP options... or complete lack thereof. I'd have loved for there to be a little customization to the RP part of the story. Sometimes my character spouts out things that seem really dumb. I would never have had her say anything remotely like that. It would be nice to have some options in the quest conversations, even if they ended up leading to the same quest events.

- Friends. I love my battle.net friends. Really, I do. Most of them are my very dear friends from my tabletop groups, but I would sometimes like to be able to play alone without people chatting me up or trying to form a party. Why on earth isn't there an "offline" or "hidden" feature on the friends list? Not that I'd ever use it... *cough* *cough*

Despite these few flaws, I am loving Diablo III and have sunk a huge portion of my recent life into it. I do hope that they continue to improve on the battle.net system and the servers, but I have been lucky enough to have very few problems with either.

PRO TIP: DON'T ADD YOUR BOSS OR COWORKERS TO YOUR BATTLE.NET ACCOUNT! It really puts a damper on those "sick" days when you get back to work and your boss knows you were online for 19 hours straight.

 


Farewell to Fear... or Fun?

 

Many people love to complain about what is wrong with the world, but do little or nothing about it. That is not the case with David Hill Jr. of Machine Age Productions. He didn't like the accepted norms of the average fantasy RPG's setting, so he created a completely new RPG system. His new game, called "Farewell to Fear", has raised over $16,000 on Kickstarter, and focuses on bringing political correctness to the RPG fantasy genre. David claims his game is a "Progressive Post-Fantasy RPG". What does he mean by that? Well according to his Kickstarter page:

Fantasy’s full of all sorts of legacy concepts that are rather disgusting to us; sexism, classism, racism, institutional violence, those are just a few choice items. Farewell to Fear is a game about revolution, about taking fantasy out of the dark ages through drive and action.

Think punk rock meets fantasy. Bad Religion meets Tolkien, boot to face.

Don't get me started on that last comment. It shows a total lack of knowledge of Tolkien's work or its revolutionary impact on the fantasy genre.

Although the information I can find is rather ambiguous, it seems like the focus of this game will be for players to portray normal people, fighting against political incorrectness and unfairness. I applaud Mr. Hill for spending so much time creating a game that embodies so many of his personal beliefs, but despite my love of new tabletop systems, I don't think I want to play his game.

Why? Because it sounds like every other fantasy game out there, only with more limitations on plot, overall creativity, and roleplaying. The entire concept of this system is that the PCs fight against "the man", who we assume is to blame for the sexism, racism, etc. Already that drastically limits the creativity of the GM to create plots because they have to be about social justice. It also drastically limits the types of characters that the players can create because the PCs have to have the desire to fight the wrongs in society, but not be afraid to rebel against the current institutions that are in place. Party conflict and drama is going to be pretty hard to drum up in a group of incredibly similar characters. Maybe they can't agree on whether to fight racism or sexism today?

It seems like the whole "Farewell to Fear" concept would be better suited to be published as an adventure path, rather then a game unto itself. They claim that the scientific method is the inspiration for their main mechanic.

The main game system is inspired by the scientific method. Instead of a huge focus on pass/fail mechanics, we’re mostly concerned about finding solutions through conjecture, precedent, and experimentation.

Ok, but how do I hit that guy over there with my sword? The actual dice mechanic spelled out on their Kickstarter page is rather vague, but it doesn't sound very revolutionary to me (unless you've never played anything but D&D). Why design a completely new set of mechanics for something that could easily be used as a skin to lay over an existing, proven system? If you want something other than a pass/fail mechanic, check out the ORE system. For that you roll for the speed and quality of your action, and it is very applicable to situations like archeological digs, performing music, or very intense combat. Why reinvent the wheel? And how many times are your players going to want to play with that same wheel if you put it on a track with limited customization?

As a woman of mixed ethnicity, I've experience my share of discrimination in my life. I am wholeheartedly against any type of discrimination, hatred, or unfair treatment between players at the gaming table.  A game that could fight the imbalance at the table but still be fun would be truly revolutionary. This game does not fight the inequality that happens to players, it only lets them fight injustices that happen in an imaginary Medieval Europe-based world, which is possible in almost any RPG if the GM wants the story to go that way. In fact, it reminds me of quite a few GM created games that I've played in (and created) for D&D4e, Wild Talents, Traveller, and other systems. (This project's Kickstarter video also claims that peasants in the middle ages studied laws to better their situations, and that women held more power than men... as a Medieval history teacher, I'd love to see their sources for that info...)

My big question? If you are trying to break the traditional RPG mold, why would you choose the most stereotypical setting possible as a foundation? Mr. Hill claims to be improving on the traditional Tolkien fantasy model (sorry... I can't just let that slide) but it sounds like he wants players to behave just like Sam and Frodo. They are normal folk, facing the evils of this world to protect their village's freedom. Or just like Gandalf, who despite being a virtual demi-god, puts the future of Arda in the hands of a minority group (hobbits). Maybe Mr. Hill has forgotten these small plot points, or how Gimli and Legolas broke down the barriers of hatred between their two races and became lifelong friends? Or Eowyn, a noblewoman who successfully kills the Lord of the Nazgul!?!?! I told you not to get me started...

I wish "Farewell to Fear" the best, but given the current information, I see very little that is truly original in this project.


Steampunk Batgirl Mask

I am creating an unnamed (*cough*) steampunk superhero costume for San Diego Comic-Con. I have never attempted a steampunk outfit before, so I knew there would be a bit of a learning curve. The mask was going to be the most difficult piece of the outfit for me, and a make-it or break-it piece for the cosplay, so I started off my project with that piece. It was a major lesson in patience for me. While not all of my costumes go perfectly, this is the first time that something has gotten ruined and I had to restart from scratch.

Plan A:
My plan was very simple, I would create the mask out of InstaMorph, then paint and cover parts of it with leather. Easy right? Nope.

The formation of the mask went well enough. InstaMorph is my go-to substance when I have to create something from scratch. It's very easy to work with, but also very strong. Fiberglass will be a big step up, but for now, this works very well. The only drawback is the low melting point, which is around 150 degrees. Do not make something out of this material and then leave it in the car.

Anyway, the formation went very well and I was thrilled with the initial fit and look of the mask. It had amazing potential, but the edges were a little uneven. I sanded these down to get a flatter edge since I eventually wanted it to resemble metal. It sanded easily, but ended up getting a fuzzy texture on the areas I sanded it. Here is the turning point. What I should have done was boil the plastic one more time to smooth this out. Opps. Instead I thought the paint would cover the fuzz and it would end up with a rough metal look. This didn't happen. My mask ended up looking almost furry, and since it had already been painted, I couldn't go back an reform the Instamorph into another shape. Bye bye Plan A!

Plan B:
I was not going to spend hours forming a mask from scratch again, especially because I now doubted that I could get the finished texture that I wanted, so Plan B started with a trip to Michael's. I found surprisingly sturdy white all-face masks for around $5. They were plastic, but had texture and thickness enough to be the base for my alterations. I brought one home and started creating my masterpiece. Plan A was a black mask with leather accents, but my plan changed a lot after the initial failure.

The shape was actually very easy to get. I simply drew the shape I wanted on the back (just in case the pencil would leave marks), and then cut it with strong scissors. I then rubbed it down with mineral spirits to remove any excess oils or anti-mold coating on the plastic, and sprayed a few base coats of black Krylon Fusion spray paint. I always use the Fusion as a base coat on plastics because it (supposedly) bonds with plastics. It seems to work pretty well for all my projects so far. I used black because it gives a great base to metallic paints, and it looks better than white if the metallic chips for some reason. I used Krylon Copper Metallic spray paint after letting the black dry for a few days. (I've been testing a lot of metal-imitating spray paints and will be doing a blog post to compare them in the future!)

I wanted the mask to look like molded metal, so it was a VERY slow process. To get it smooth you have to do lots of thin layers, but not too thin or you never get rid of the texture. If you spray too thickly, you will start getting drips. PRO TIP: Let each layer dry COMPLETELY before you add on the next one.

Once again, I was too enthusiastic and handled the mask after only a few hours of drying. There are now a few TINY marks on it, but nobody can see them unless they are less than a foot away. Please, don't make my mistake! Let your creation dry for a few days before you move on to adding rivets, leather, goggles etc. I knew better, but just got too excited!

Next I measured and cut the leather. I glued the edges under so that it would appear smooth and then glued the leather to the mask. After that I used a leather punch to make holes through the leather and mask. The rivets are purely decoration, and were glued in place through those holes. Actually setting the rivets with a hammer (like I did on my Sif costume) would have damaged the mask.

Finally, I added the ears and strap. I cut the ears from Plan A's mask and wrapped them in leather, gluing them in place and using a whip stitch to close the edge. This also added a cool steampunk look to them. I sewed and glued them and the strap in place. All of the leather and straps were taken from a $4 purse that I bought at the thrift store. The last thing I did to the mask was glue on the goggles, which were purchased on Amazon for $7 and dismantled so I could attach them correctly.

(The ears will lay flat against my head when I wear it.)

Overall, I am much happier with the final outcome than I was with my original design. I think this looks much more "steampunk" and will actually be more comfortable to wear, mostly because of its lighter weight.

Stay tuned for more updates on this very educational cosplay experience!

 


Skyrim, Dawnguard, & Kinect

Skyrim has been a huge success for Bethesda Softworks. The average person's playtime for Skyrim has been about 90 hours since its release in November. The nonlinear gameplay provides endless hours of entertainment. This is not a game that you "finish", this is a game that you eventually grow bored of, but trust me, it will take a while. I love the freedom provided in this game. It is the closest a non-MMO has come to recreating the joy I get from playing tabletop RPGs. It's about as sandboxy as a video game can get.

The new Skyrim downloadable content (DLC) will be released this summer. It's called Dawnguard and is a huge mystery. Rumors about new content like Snow Elves and crossbows abound, but we really have no idea what will be included in the new content. The only thing that has been released officially is the teaser image, which shows a glowy-eyed man wearing the trademark Skyrim helmet. (It cracks me up that this is STILL the helm that they use for all the merchandising since it's such low-level gear in the game.) The DLC will be released to Xbox 360 players before everyone else, which has really upset a lot of PC and PS3 gamers.

What improvements and content am I hoping for in Dawnguard?

1) I'd love to have them add Snow Elves. I'm a fan of Elves in general, and the lore surrounding the fall of the Snow Elves and their corruption into the feral Falmer race is fascinating. It reminds me of the corruption of the elves into the foul orcs in Tolkien lore.

Doomed to carry these for all time!!

2) Quests need to be class specific. Yes, some quests are easier to complete for certain classes, but my warrior should never have been able to complete a quest line and become Archmage of Winterhold, and my mage should never have been able to join the Companions. I love sandbox games, but there needs to be some logical limit on a character's capabilities. This would also encourage me to play different classes. I don't expect them to go back and patch all the old quests, but it would be great if new quests were logically connected with profession and class.

3) I want to be able to drop fucking quest items from my inventory. Seriously. I'm now stuck carrying around five Stones of Barenziah. It's lame, because I have 4 houses where I can store stuff. Let me put it in my dresser drawer until I'm ready to finish that quest, or sell it if I'm desperate for money!

4) Horses. Make them not a pain in the ass. If an equine-obsessed girl like me don't want to own a horse in a game, there is a serious problem.

There have been some new developments for Skyrim recently. Last week, a new patch was available for the Xbox/Kinect setup that allowed players to use voice commands in Skyrim. I haven't gotten nearly enough use out of my Kinect, so I was very curious to see if this option actually functioned well in gameplay. A handy PDF is available for those with bad memories (me) and the Kinect works surprisingly well with voice commands in game. The quick commands for the map, game controls, and menus, all work very well and I have started using them in place of the controller. However, the dragon shouts were the big ticket item with this patch.

Instead of having one dragon shout option at a time, a player can now use their voice to use any shout in their arsenal. It's the perfect use for the Kinect, right?.... Sort of. The idea is sound and the technology works much better than I expected, but I am only able to cast the correct shout about 70% of the time when I'm using the three syllable dragon shouts. You really have to enunciate, and space out each part of the shout. You will cast a less powerful version of the shout or fail completely if you rush your syllables together. Take the time to study up on the correct pronunciations of the shouts before you get into trouble. My shouts have improved with practice, but there are a few shouts that I cannot vocally cast for some unknown reason. Maybe my California accent doesn't translate well to dragon.

Of course, you can always just yell the common tongue name of the spell, but where is the fun in that? FUS RO DAH!!!!!


Earth 2 & Worlds' Finest

Before I begin, I am going to make the recommendation that you read these two comics in a specific order, read Earth-2 #1 and then read Worlds' Finest #1. It will make much more sense. Also, THIS POST CONTAINS SPOILERS!!!

Earth 2
I have to admit that I was torn about them introducing the multiverse back into DC. Although it gives some great opportunities for characters and story lines, it is sort of a cheap comic book trick. Lose your favorite character? He's still alive on Earth-50! Want Wonder Woman and Superman to hook up? No problem, it happens on Earth-69! Instead of consolidating characters and giving stories more impact, the multiverse tends to water everything down. However, it has paved the way for the return of Power Girl, who is one of my favorite characters! But more on that later...

This entire comic was basically a prologue for stories that are yet to come. I watched the DC Trinity battling to the death against an invading force of aliens. Readers catch up on years of Earth-2 history in a few pages, and boy is it a dark history. The world is doomed, but for real this time. The inner dialogue of our heroes is about as shocking as it comes. Our heroes have lost everything, but are still fighting for their world. They make the ultimate sacrifice. The world survives, but it has no heroes left.

I think this is the best thing they could have done with Earth-2. Wipe out the familiar characters and start from scratch with all new characters. I don't want to keep track of multiple Wonder Women, or read about an earth that is pretty much just like the main earth (FYI, DC has yet to define which earth the New 52 is taking place on.). Other earths need to be different! VERY different! I hope they hold course with Earth-2 and use it to create some great new characters for the DC universe. That said, the writing was a bit rushed. They tried to fit too much into one book, and that caused the drama to lose some of it's impact. Generally, I'd want a major character's death to take up more than a few panels, but I'm hoping that this will be remedied in future books since they won't be trying to set up an entire new timeline in every issue. I can't say if I am going to stick with this book, because we have yet to really meet the main characters. I'll definitely be picking up #2!

The art was good and I liked the costumes on Earth-2. Wonder Woman's threads had some really great details on them. Crap... now I have ANOTHER Wonder Woman cosplay on my to-do list!

 

Worlds' Finest
I am a huge Power Girl fan. I even loved her all through the 90's and her crazy thong, tights, and headband era. But holy crap is her new costume horrible... opps. I'm jumping ahead. Let's go back a little bit.

This story actually takes place on the main DC earth. It is revealed that Huntress is actually Helena Wayne, the Robin from Earth-2. She and Earth-2's Supergirl were accidentally transported to the main earth during the epic battle that took place in Earth-2, #1. (Hence the plural possessive punctuation in the title, they are from multiple worlds!) They are utterly alone, but making the best of it. Helena has taken up as the Huntress, and Kara (now called Karen) is a development mogul who seems fixated on returning to Earth-2. She isn't working as a hero at the moment, but is pouring millions into developing technologies to get the pair home. (Seriously, read Earth-2 #1 before you read this comic.) Neither character seems interested in making contact with the heroes from this world.

Let's start with Huntress. Although I am very sad that Helena Bartinelli seems to not exist in the DC New 52, I am a huge fan of Helena Wayne as the Huntress. I have a huge collection of old comics from the pre-Crisis era and love that Batman had a bad ass daughter. There is part of me that squealed a little at the thought of her being the main Huntress in the DC Universe again. That said, the writing didn't nail the character that I know and love. There is also the personality continuity problem between the character in this title, and the character in the Huntress book. Are they the same character? It would seem so, but there is a definite disconnect happening somewhere. I do like the outfit they have given her since the New 52 debut.

And Power Girl. They are definitely TRYING to nail the sarcastic, brash, human character that we love, but again, they don't quite get it right. Kara was likeable because, despite her amazing powers, she was fallible. She lost her temper, was a little to sexy, and was trying to find herself. I hope they start to include that in this character as the books go on. Then... there is her new outfit. They have exchanged the boob window for a boob target. Seriously. There is a decorative "P" shape (for Power Girl once she reveals that as her new hero call sign) that fits perfectly over her left breast. There is even a little circle that fits EXACTLY over where her nipple would be. It's just... odd. It calls attention to her breast (yes... just the left one) in a way that is unsexy, and a little awkward. Almost like when someone has a stain on their shirt and you are contemplating telling them or not.

To be honest, I hated the artwork in this book. Some of it looks like a high school art student drew it. Some panels are beautiful, but sometimes the angles and human proportions are so wrong you wonder how it got printed. It reminds me of the recent Hawk & Dove in the New 52. George Perez's Wonder Woman run was incredible, so I'm not sure what's happened with this book. Maybe they just need more practice with these characters? Again, I'm not sold on this series. I might pick up #2, but more likely I'll just wait until Power Girl pops up in another series.


RPG Podcast Listener Survey

The 2012 RPG Podcast Lister Survey is up! Please visit rpgpolls.com to fill it out. This information is very useful to podcast hosts and gives great information on the demographics of our audience members. It should take you less than 5 minutes to fill out and doesn't ask for any personal contact information.

The 2011 survey gave us some very interesting information about RPG podcast listeners. According to last year's statistics, RPG podcast listeners are between the ages of 26 and 29. 51% of them are married and over 66% use iTunes to download their podcasts. D&D was still the most popular gaming system of listeners, but had dropped 2.3% while other systems such as Savage Worlds and GURPS gained ground. Overall, listeners spent an average of $621.92 on RPGs and gaming in 2011. Women made up only 6% of respondents in last years survey, however the actual number of women who took the survey increased.

Happy Jacks RPG Podcast did very well in the 2011 survey. Over 27% of the gamers surveyed listened to our podcast!! We actually ranked 3rd in the list of top 20 RPG podcasts! Most surprising of all, Happy Jack's was the favorite RPG podcast of women who took the survey. Over 33% of the women who completed the survey listened to our podcast! This makes me very happy, since I am a huge proponent of women in gaming.

I am eagerly looking forward to the results of the 2012 survey! Please share this info with your gamer friends! The more respondents, the more accurate the data will be!