Barbarians and Space Aliens?

While looking over my 401k I have decided to take a more active approach to saving money. I have invested in the past and I actively watch the index and mutual funds that my 401k is engaged in - although I rarely make any actual adjustments to it - I am happy with my diversified portfolio in international, large cap, and mid cap funds. So, I have decided to reduce the amount of money that I have started saving and instead dropping it into day trading and swing trading. I have been doing it with small amounts of money for three months and I have been successful even in a market that is not performing that well.

I wanted to ask if there were other traders on my friends list out there and ask about their experiences trading. I have my 401k and it takes 6% of my check and drops it into three different funds - I went with three very good ones - after research.

I have decided to save less and trade more in my actual bank account. The money in my savings account doesn't really increase as much as I would like to and I am seeing how successful I have been at swing trading - with a few day trades between - and I want to capitalize on that success and make my money work better for me.

My current trades are WON and MNEAF. I got lucky on MNEAF (Mineres Andes Mining) and on Sunday they announced nailing a large gold deposit in one of their mines. I plan to keep riding it until the candlesticks tell me different. I guess I am looking for a mentor to push me along the final steps to successful investing and if there was anyone out there listening we could mutually benefit from research.

Anyone?

Well - the tattoo session went great. 7"-8" tall Optimus Prime on my thigh. Well, all the line work anyway. In two weeks, we finish off the black. Then two weeks after that we do the color. It is almost all color and the tat looks kind of like a negative right now.




I really like it and the line work is awesome. 1 month from now the very painful colored completion will be done.

I have completed the layout of the first of my "pop culture" themed tattoos that will be covering my entire legs. I have a single tattoo and one of my best friends is a tattoo apprentice and needs tattoo time. I have seen him do about 8 tattoos so far and I feel comfortable going to get mine done.

On the left leg I have Optimus Prime, the Dungeon and Dragon magazine logos as filler behind some of the primary tattoos, Dungeons and Dragons logo that will be behind a few of the tattoos as filler space, the RIFTS logo (again, background filler behind other tattoos, the Thundercats emblem, Superman, and more. On the back of my leg, I will be doing a tattoo where it looks like the skin is tearing away and beneath it is the Spiderman costume. I figured I would do the Spiderman costume because it is easy to identify in a small space. On the left leg I will also have the Millennium Falcon, Batman.

My right leg consists of the evil half of my pop-culture theme; megatron, Darth Vader, the COBRA emblem on my calf, Stormshadow from GIJoe, several super villains that I have not decided on yet, this leg I have less planned for so far... I have some art that has Megatron's silhouette behind a dying Starscream. I know I will have an alien from Aliens, just because it has always been my favorite movie.

Today, we begin the black for my 6" tall Optimus Prime. It will take 4-5 hours to do the black for it, because of the detail involved and the fact that there is a autobot emblem behind him.. it is about 6" wide also. It will be the centerpiece of my thigh and the Thundercats emblem will be the center piece of my calf.

I will post some pictures when it is done - maybe tomorrow. Alot of people ask me why are you doing this whole cartoon, comic, pop culture theme. I said "Because, since I remember these things have been one of the most influential parts of my life. Also, they are on my legs and I always wear pants. It gives my best friend a chance to drill someone and get more experience." He is an awesome artist and does great tattoos. He just needs more hours under his belt until they set him free and give him a booth.

So yeah, by the time Dungeon and Dragon magazine has went out of print - I will have their titles emblazoned upon my flesh. I was thinking about creating a layout for them where I used the dungeon and the dragon fonts and shapes to create a dungeons and dragons using the "&" dragon from the D&D logo. Who knows right now though. The size of this tattoo is going to SUCK healing. I have another tattoo on my shoulder - it is 4" x 4" and 3 of my friends (including the artist that will tattoo me today) have the same tat. We all joined the circus (Ringling Bros.) together about a decade ago and got 3 rings that symbolized each of us as we left for a 3-ring circus. It was cheesy and cool at the same time, but it cemented our friendship to a point that we look at the same neighborhoods to live in - try to negotiate our careers to remain close to each other - hell we will help each other bury bodies if we have to. Ok.. well, I am rambling. Off to get the first tat drilled into me.

I think George Bush is going too far. These executive privileges he is invoking sound more like immunity from the other branches of government. How long are we as a people going to put up with it?

It is time to impeach the president. No more complacency. He is standing there defying our government and still standing untouchable. WE are letting this happen. WE are doing nothing to stop it. WE are this country - not that man.

The American people are waiting and I guarantee that America and most of the world will breathe a sigh of relief when George Bush is no longer the leader of one of the most powerful nations on this planet.

I am normally not outspoken politically. I have not voted since Ross Perot. I know this though, regardless if I have not voted, regardless if I have been complacent in the past - it is time to stop this madness and end this dictatorship. If he gets away with saying no to congress, what is next? Will he extend his presidency using executive privilege? People are like, of course not they won't let him. Well, open your eyes - they are letting him. It is time to stop being complacent and go to one of the sites below, either vote to impeach or find your representative and tell them what we as a people need - Bush out of the White House. Do both if you have the time, which isn't much to ask if you would want to shrug this evil off our backs.

There are few places you can go;

http://www.impeachbush.org Vote to Impeach

http://www.house.gov/ Find your representative and tell them.

Well, one of my best friends is an apprentice in a tattoo shop and he needs someone to start work on. It will be cheap, probably free work from one of my best friends. I have given him the upper parts of my legs - outside thighs to my knee and most likely my legs in their entirety will be covered from waist to ankle within a few years.

My friend has worked retail his whole life and always trying to work on his phenomenal art skills. He has a gift and I can see that he wants to exercise it - I think one of the worst things you can do is turn your back on your own talents and gifts. But, no one was supporting him - so I stepped up and said "You can have my legs."

We have been friends for 20 years and while I am not one to go in for tattoos I figure that not supporting my friends gift would be worse. I love graphic design and I have a knack for it, I love creating imaginary things and I have forced my job and hobbies in that direction because I would rather be happy doing what I like than rich doing what I don't like.

So, this time next year - I will probably have pant legs made of ink. I am starting with images from my past in a collage - Transformers, Thundercats, Dungeons and Dragons, and Robotech - all in the same tattoo. Not sure yet though. I might just start small with my son's name and an excerpt from the Eddas under it. My son's name is Jacob Thor and it would be cool to have a quote from Thor (from the Eddas) and my son's name on my leg.

I really enjoyed the new Transformers movie and it did justice to one of my favorite cartoons from my childhood. I own the original transformers movie and the dvd seasons that were released. I never got into the Beast Wars or modern Transformers stuff. I'm all about the old school Transformers and while some would call me a fan boy - yes, I have 3 old posters in a tube waiting for frames - I have had them for almost a decade - I would not consider myself a fanboy. I just grew up with them and I think all of us like to cling onto some of the things we loved in our past.

Did anyone catch the subtle "megatron" every time Megatron came into the camera - you could faintly hear this robotic sound that said "megatron". That was cool. I also really like the fact that they are telling a new origin and I can't wait to see the next one.

I am starting a Mutants and Masterminds Campaign next week and have chosen my players. I get several people that want to join my games and usually a 12 person group is not reasonable. I dwindle that group down to 6 total - including me. I have chosen 5 really cool people to play in the game and two of them I don't even know very well - I wanted a really new experience and wanted to mix it up a bit with some new blood. They are a married couple and fans of Champions. I will sway them to the MnM.

I think I am going to take a few elements from the d20 modern setting that I looked at once - Project Spear or something like that. It was about Nazi's in a parallel dimension that were using earth to get resources and take them back to their dimension. Well, I thought it was a good idea and I believe that it will make a great setting for my campaign world.

I know that my gamers do not read my LJ and it makes it a little easier to talk plot. I am not going with much back history... why? Players never find out anyway. The beginning villains don't even know that they are working for Nazi agents from a parallel dimension.

The Nazi's have are running out of natural resources in their home dimension but are now seeping out to other dimensions to rob them of resources to feed their worldwide war machine - they are locked in fighting in their dimension against freedom fighters. So, they have come to our Earth and are robbing resources in a few places. Each step in discovering the plot will be like a comic. I am going to run this game a little different because each session is going to flip flop to their alternate identities.
Once session will be about the super selves, then the other about their secret identities. The first session will be roleplaying key moments in thier lives.

First Session Goals -

1-15 years
High School
College or Post High School Years
Up to Now

Some characters might still be in college but that is the minimum. All characters will be old enough to be in college or have some dead end job. I want the characters to get a feel for the alter ego. I want them to feel like the two are one character. I will not be giving them any wealth (I am using the wealth system in my MnM campaign), they have to earn it. If they spend some points I will make them start rich but they have to spend the points for it. The more they make the harder I will make it for them to hold onto the job. There will also be a metagame rule that they are GOOD guys and this is four color game - killing will have reprimands and complications without hero points being awarded.

I want to play a four color game - but, sometimes killing will be the only option and I want them to pay for it with temporary complications. I want to make it part of the game. Maybe have one of the character's children that looked up to their superhero identity (he doesn't know that dad is the superhero) as their role model and he stops liking the hero because he kills so and so. I want to play out the complications of a hero's real life.

Well, anyway I will keep you updated.

I have always been a listener of blues. Growing up I had several blues musicians that were friends of my family, these guys are still at it, and once in awhile I get out to the local brewery and watch some of them play live. I don't get out there too much any more...
Well, anyway. I have found a man named Robert Bradley, his life has been hell and yes he is still alive and kicking, making music. He is a blind blues artist, check him out at the following places;

My Space

Robert Bradley Music

Check it out and tell me what you think. Make sure you hear Once Upon a Time, it is a great song.

They have all these fancy shmancy names for positions. Basically, I create ads in Indesign and Quark for the newspaper between paginating the classified section of the newspaper, laying the whole section out for the most part. Then I layout an entire newspaper, then I print all the film and do press checks after printing. It is high paced, but I like it. I have always performed better in a high pace environment. And hey, it pays alright.

In about a month I will train the other ad specialists in Indesign - I think that is the primary reason they hired me. I am also editing and proofing the paper while I do my job. So yeah, the position has a lot more responsibility then I thought, I can't believe that I actually like it.

I still want to do layouts for RPG's and stuff, I just don't have the time to write anymore. I wish I did, I had to get the job though, it will relieve a lot of the monetary issues that have been plaguing my family. Well, if anyone has any layouts they need you know who to call.

So, I decided to put down information to help write adventures for some people that might have trouble or maybe are just looking for some help solidifying adventure ideas. The paradigm is a screenwriting theory by Syd Field, you can probably find it by looking up Wikipedia, I will save you the time with my own adventure ideas layered within the paradigm concept. Here is my outline format for writing adventures (based of the paradigm screenwriting theory);

Opening: Where are the characters? How will you get them together? The opening of your adventure is very important and with the description of the environment and introduction to the story you will both set the mood and pace of your game, although pacing can be changed at any point. It is important to set the mood of your game here. Is the world already beset by darkness? Is it a rainy dark night? A perfect example here would be something like a caravan raid that the characters come across, people dead, caravan looted. This sets the tone and lets the characters know that there are bandits or some other foul creatures about. Don't tell your players "There are bandits in the forest." Show them.

Inciting Incident: The characters receive their quest. This can be done in many ways; they could decided that the bandits need stopped, or they might be hired by a duke to investigate the roads to the south. Regardless, this is the point that puts the characters onto the adventure. There are many ways to get the characters onto a quest without having some guy in power come out and say "Hey, go do this and I will give you something." What about, dropping a father clutching his dead son, the father begging for someone to bring him back. All resurrection proves impossible, then they learn that the bandits killed them, but one was with the bandits said to be their leader, a man with a rapier wreathed in shadow. He killed they boy with a smile, his father watched running from the town gates... something along those lines. Push the characters onto the adventure, give the adventure meaning beyond a few gold pieces.

Turning Point 1: I usually have a major encounter that is probably the 2nd highest EL the characters will encounter during the game. Maybe the characters meet the antagonist as he drops a crossbow bolt into someone from a distance, vanishing into the woods while his henchmen attack the PC's. This point forces the characters into a no turning back situation. It pushes the characters and provides momentum to carry the characters through a few encounters.

Pinch 1: This should be an encounter that reminds the characters of their task. Remind the characters why they are on the adventure. For the bandit quest I have been using as an example, the characters could come by a few captured people at a small camp. The people that are alive here might give the characters some more information, maybe the characters find out that the bandit has aligned himself with strange forces and he also took three young girls with him, age 14, 16 and 20. This may push characters towards urgency.

Midpoint: Ok. Give the characters a plot twist or some discovery that makes the story interesting. The characters may meet the antagonist face to face in a situation where the bad guy is not willing to engage but wishes to parley instead. This part of the story is the middle, give the characters a break allow them to rest and restore their spells and such. Perhaps in the bandit story, the characters learn that this is much more than just a bandit, it is a guerrilla army for Tiamat or something. I try to weave parts of my next adventure into this point. So, the characters might stumble upon some camp with the antagonist's half-dragon lieutenant, learning that these attacks are meant to soften the area, and make cities less able to stand up to a siege. A siege for armies that are preparing far to the north and might already be on their way. So they fight the half-dragon and discover some papers that confirm the fact that there is indeed an army.

Pinch 2: Again, pinch 2 should remind characters of the final goal of this adventure. Maybe another encounter or an ambush with the bandits. The encounter should in some way remind the characters of the situation. Maybe, one of them breathes fire. The characters might come across some heirloom of one of the girls here, suggesting the party take haste.

Turning Point 2: Another hard encounter. This should really put strain on the characters and provide a driving force. This should also allow a little more insight to the truth of the adventure, perhaps a little twist here. The characters might find out that the oldest girl is actually with the bandits, and a cleric of Tiamat. She is the one that wanted this town razed to the ground in the first place. So the characters might wonder what of the other girls, perhaps they find out at the end of the encounter that they are to be sacrificed within the hour or later tonight, any time you are comfortable with.

Showdown: The climactic battle with our rapier wielding antagonist and his closest henchmen. This should be the toughest encounter of the entire adventure, it should challenge the characters, it should not be created to kill them. Sometimes though, characters fall. In this situation, the characters find out that bandit leader is a half-dragon vampire right before encountering him. He should have the two girls on a slab ready for the sacrifice, this forces characters to act or let them die.

Resolution: The characters might have to clean up, get back to town with the girls, more than that, they may find more information about this army; leading them to the next adventure if you like continuing adventures... or you can end it, instead knowing that the kingdom mobilizes its army in time to destroy the other army before it can gather. Regardless, the characters are heroes.

Tag: I like to finish up adventures with small details and try to wrap everything up at the end. No loose ends. So follow the layout and think about anything and make a note of it, where did the rapier of the bad guy come from? Who was the lieutenant? Perhaps Tiamat knows of his death, taking interest in this small band of adventurers. The Tag is more for the GM to make his notes on the adventure... did the characters make any new enemies? Did anyone escape and now lives for nothing but to destroy the PC's?

Remember that there needs to be encounters through the whole thing, they should be paced. Here is how I do it on a normal adventure, 10-13 encounters. If you want to add more encounters, add the encounters before and after the Pinch Encounters.

Opening
Inciting Incident
Turning Point 1
Encounter 1
Pinch 1
Encounter 2
Midpoint
Encounter 3
Pinch 2
Encounter 4
Turning Point 2
Encounter 5
Showdown
Resolution
Tag

I also wanted to add that this is more for a linear based, non-dungeon adventure. The GM is basically going to plop encounters down where the PC's are, regardless of what direction they are headed. It is meant for a linear game. Here are tips for adding it to other things like dungeons.

I use the same system for dungeons, I assign rooms to the paradigm instead of events. I try to make it so characters will run into all rooms, but sometimes they don't. That is just the way dungeons are anyway. There might be some crucial information they miss, but dungeons are going to be like that no matter what, unless it is made in such a way that it forces the characters along a linear path, that is sometimes boring, in dungeons I like to give the players choices, it begins to make them feel lost sometimes. So, for this system to work, just assign rooms in an order moving away from the entrance of the dungeon to the end, this way the characters will run into them in order, or maybe not. It will take a little messing around with but I have done a few adventures that work. The same thing goes with overland site based adventures too, assign sites certain plot points, you can even be hybrid with it, some could be automatic events that you do no matter where the PC's are and some plot points could be site based. It works.

Of course, this will give you a great skeleton and sometimes an opening may be set across a couple non-combat encounters or even a combat encounter. This is just a great system to create a layout, it is especially good for pick up and short planned games. You need about a half-hour and a character generator of some sort if you want to have all the stat blocks done too. I use generators a lot for short planned games. E-tools was a good generator, I also use heroforge, but more often than not I just make the NPC quick and add it to my already substantial character collection. One more thing, always keep every NPC and monster you create. You will find that you can use them again in short-plan games and have a great NPC with little work.

Well, since everyone and their dog is talking about it; I guess I will too. Yeah, Dungeon and Dragon magazine as we know it is changing or most likely gone forever, replaced by pale internet versions. I will get it, but it won't be the same. I looked forward to the mail each month when the two magazines came, when I would sit and skim through them a few times and then read them completely. My favorite writers were in there, I am not going to sit here and name you all, as most are on my LJ friend list and I wouldn't want to forget one of you. Well, if this new material is subscribed to I might get it for a year, if it is cool I will keep it. I see something else happening, the same reason PDF's year after year have not really caught on and replaced printed material; people like substance in their hands.
I am older, I have been getting the magazines for a long time. So, goodbye my monthly friends. Oh well.

Now, there is another thing that I see also, it almost seems like WotC is collecting back their licenses. Something is brewing, it is impossible not to see it. Codemonkey loses the license. Paizo loses Dungeon/Dragon... Dragonlance... Does anyone see a pattern? I know there is probably more... stuff I don't know. What is WotC planning? I think they are either going to sell the whole license with all the bells and whistles or they are planning something that might hit big... Someone knows...

And for the final time, goodbye Dragon and Dungeon magazines.

I have been thinking about starting to write a fantasy novel, mainly due to my lack of time to focus on RPG material, and the fact that over the last couple years I have noticed a decline in the RPG industry; all the local game stores here have closed their doors (a trend that unfortunately I am seeing all over), I sell next to nothing in PDF sales these days, although that is part my fault because I have not focused on marketing much the past half-year or so. Due in part, that it started to feel as though sales were dropping despite my best efforts to advertise. So, with that, I have decided to try my hand at writing a novel, I just wanted to ask the others out there that are writing; What does it really take to write a novel?
I don't have a target page limit. I just want to start writing and see what happens. I do however have a will to finish what I start, I think that is what separates a lot of game designers from others that end up going to do anything.

Is there anyone out there that can give me some advice, either publisher or writer? Also, I do plan to self publish, so any help on novel publishing would be appreciated.

Well, I just got a new job for the Visalia Times-Delta and Tulare Advance Register newspapers. I will be their Ad Design and Pagination Specialist. I have actually gone through a couple of interviews and am happy to be the one they chose for the job. This is going to put a damper on my RPG writing of course, that is never a good thing. But hey, I will be making more money than I could doing the solo writing thing, money is important at this point in my life, important enough to get me out looking for a job.
At least they are impressed with my editing and writing skills too, I will be helping them on some journalist stuff, editing and what not also. That is what I really want to do, maybe I will get to do it full-time at one point.
Also, I only have 8 more months of school left till my B.S.B.A. - Project Management is done, yay, no more school, well unless I choose to go after that Master's.

Well, my idea engine isn't working. I feel like my brain is locked in limbo. I have these ideas, some friends say they are alright. But, I feel like they are mediocre. Its not really a writer's block, I have had that before. I can still write just fine and fast. I feel like all my ideas are horrible and I shouldn't be writing about it. Has anyone else had a problem like this and should I go ahead and write about something I don't think is good? Should I stop for awhile? Does anyone have ideas on stuff to do to kick that imagination back up to think of new ideas? It's like my imagination just shut down.

Well, I have been swamped at school and not able to put out the "Tales from the Tabletop Ezine" I have decided that I am going to release it every other month basically because it is less work to knock out two competitions and it makes a better product.
Argh! Nine more months and my B.S.B.A. is done! I can't wait for that. Right now it is International Business Principles and an accounting class I have to take as a requirement for another class that I will be taking, these two classes are the two that are bothering me right now, rest is easy pickings.
Well, in my spare time I have taken to playing World of Warcraft. I transfered my character Avaxa to a new server (Zangarmarsh) to play with some friends. I have been playing since the game came out and still don't have a 60th level character, shows you how much I actually play the game. While playing though, I am making notes and filling up a notebook on some new ideas for writing. I am just at this phase where I don't want to write, it is best for me to withdraw and wait until entertaining myself gets tiresome.
I also just had an interview with the local newspaper as a Marketing and Advertisement Specialist. I hope I get it, it will be sad to put Thor (my son) in daycare and give up the stay at home dad and student routine, but the money would be nice too. I have made some progress on going retail with Artifacts of Legend and have thought of doing a yearly production of Tales from the Tabletop for retail, that would be a book that is 300 pages of solid material.

Ok. Normally, I am not one to really get into video games too much and avoid them for the most part; as they suck up my life. I have found a really cool game called Navyfield: The Resurrection of Steel. It is a naval MMORPG, where your character's are basically ships and your items are sailors and weapons.
It is also free. Well, to just play it is free; I purchased the premium account (11.99) on the first day I loved it so much.
If anyone wants to go there and check it out it's at Navyfield.com. You will find me on the Arizona Server by the name mindforge (of course!).
Trust me at least go check it out if you are into tactics and RPG's, you will not be disappointed, and if you are, hell it was free. You can buy things in game with real money too, like premium sailors and stuff. While, they are not that much better than the normal ones they are a little. I love the way it is set up.

By the way, all the ships are historically accurate (well, as much as they can be) and the game is a blast (if you sign up remember to put my name in the nominated field in the sign up and meet up with me in game, we can send some ships to the "Locker" together.
It is all WW2 based ships; you can play Germany, Japan, America, and UK.

http://navyfield.com

Well, the attempt to go retail looks like it is going to happen in the next half-year. 'Artifacts of Legend' will be the first to go. It's kind of weird doing this all alone without too many people at my back. The GPA (Game Publisher's Association) has provided great information though, some information has been priceless.

For awhile I was looking to start writing for others and try to get my name out, I guess I am just going to skip that whole part.

I am real upset about Gencon So Cal, that was where I was going to get my first table, right after my retail launch of 'Artifacts of Legend' and see how well I did at a Convention, that is all shattered. With the wonderboy Thor and all, it is difficult to attend faraway conventions. Trust me when I say that I will be attending these cons with my own table soon though, Gencon So Cal.... too bad.

Well, I guess I better jump on the blogging bandwagon once again, keep friends in the loop I guess.
I just finished reading about half of Robert E. Howard's Conan stories, I decided to pick up the three book set with all his stories, even unfinished, untitled stories. I also picked up The Ultimate Guide to the World's Most Savage Barbarian, awesome book. I am reading Hour of the Dragon, I actually read it quite some time ago, about 15 years ago. It seems so much better now, just wish Howard could have wrote more.