Help me get an iPod!

Last year, there was a bit of a long-term story running on TechTV’s The Screen Savers about a website — freeipods.com — that was giving away free iPods (you know, that hot Apple mp3 player). You sign up for one of the services offered through the site, refer five (or more) friends who also sign up for a service… and they send you a free iPod.

After some digging, it turns out the offer is legit, so I decided to take the plunge and sign up. I’d like all my faithful Lore Merchant readers (yes, all five of you) to help me out here. Click on the link below, and sign up for one of the services offered.

Free iPod Offer

Sadly, this offer is only valid for US residents. My international readers will not be able to take advantage of this offer. Thanks in advance for your assistance!

Staff of the Aerie

Tonight I thought I would give you guys some crunch — here are the game statistics for one of the magic items recovered from an old Temple of Chorrolis.

Staff of the Aerie

Maximum Threads: 1

Spell Defense: 14

This four-and-a-half foot long wooden staff is decorated along its shaft with carved looping whirls inset with silver. At one end is a pair of stylized wings, also crafted of silver, which flank an oblong crystal of blue quartz. At the other end is a burnished steel endcap.

The staff was created before the Scourge by the Elementalist Dunsin Aree. Dunsin was from the city of Raj Tolor, a vibrant trade city in the formerly fertile farmland of what is now the Badlands. As news of the coming Scourge spread, Dunsin did what he could to prepare the city for the Horrors — and defend it from them. He was aided in this endeavor by two other adepts: Korin, a troll Warrior, and Zael, a human Beastmaster. Together they formed the Spears of Tolor, a group dedicated to serving the people of Raj Tolor.

On one of their expeditions to an outlying village, Dunsin discovered that one of his former students had become corrupted by a Horror. This corrupt Elementalist (whose name has been lost to history) had bound several elemental spirits and was using them in dark magical rituals (which have also, thank the Passions, been lost to history). The Spears defeated the corrupt Elementalist, and one of the freed elementals gave Dunsin a blue quartz crystal imbued with elemental air. Dunsin used the crystal to construct his staff, a magical focus that held one of his spell matrices and boosted his magical abilities.

Rank 1

Cost: 200

Key Knowledge: The wielder must learn that this item is Named the Staff of the Aerie.

Effect: The crystal at the end of the staff acts as a Spell Matrix of rank equal to the thread rank. In addition, the staff grants the wielder a +1 to his spell defense.

Rank 2

Cost: 300

Key Knowledge: The wielder must learn the identity of the staff’s creator.

Effect: The staff grants the wielder a +1 step bonus to Spellcasting tests.

Rank 3

Cost: 500

Key Knowledge: The wielder must learn the name of the city-state that Dunsin was from.

Effect: The staff allows the user to cast the 1st-Circle Elementalist spell Air Armor. This takes the Elementalist’s action, and uses his own Spellcasting talent.

Rank 4

Cost: 800

Key Knowledge: The user must learn the Name of the group Dunsin belonged to.

Effect: The staff now grants a +2 bonus to the user’s Spell Defense, and a +2-step bonus to the user’s Spellcasting tests.

Rank 5

Cost: 1300

Key Knowledge: The user must learn the Name of one of the other members of the Spears of Tolor.

Effect: The staff allows the user to cast the 4th Circle Elementalist Spell Air Blast, as if it were held in an enhanced Matrix (i.e. the user does not need to weave the thread).



Rank 6

Cost: 2100

Key Knowledge: The user must learn the Name of the other member of the Spears of Tolor.

Effect: The staff grants a 2-step bonus to the user’s Willforce talent for spells cast from the staff; this includes the spell matrix crystal, and the two additional spell powers. If the user does not posses the Willforce talent, the bonus is applied to the caster’s Willpower for the purposes of determining effect.

Rank 7

Cost: 3400

Key Knowledge: The user must learn the source of the gem on the staff.

Deed: The user must have an air elemental recharge the gem in the staff, which requires the user to swear a blood oath with the spirit.

Effect: The staff grants a 2-step bonus to the user’s Willpower for the purposes of summoning or commanding elemental spirits.

New Front End

Happy new year! One of the changes I had in mind for this year was to combine my blog with the front page of the website. This way, I could use the blog for content updates as well as for anything else I want to add here.

I realize it’s been a while since I posted any updates. The holidays kept me pretty busy, and my work on Earthdawn Classic has been eating up a bit of time as well. It’s going along well, but as the saying goes — “90% of the work takes place during the last 10% of the project.”

To try and bring things up to date, I have added five new entries in the Valyan’s Heirs campaign journals. Two are from Kira, and three are from Thrak. Here are links for the first new entry in each character’s journal.

Kira’s Entry 13

Thrak’s Entry 4

(October 2016: These links will be updated once the material is reformatted and made available.)

The next few weeks will see updates to the Riders on the Storm journals, more specific news on the progress of Earthdawn Classic, and hopefully an image gallery. And, of course, there will be other blog entries. One of my resolutions this year is to try and maintain some kind of regular update schedule.

I hope I can keep to it.

A few things to muse on today.

First of all, the Red Sox won the World Series in four games. It seemed somehow anti-climactic, to be honest. After that amazing series with the Yankees… I somehow expected more drama. The Sox were so dominant, though (at least in games 2, 3, and 4)…

I called my dad during the fifth inning of game 4… and we watched the end of the game together. Okay, he watched the game and I watched the play-by-play update on ESPN.com (we don’t have Fox through Dish Network). Still, it was a nice “together moment.”

I will be really happy when the election is over with. This year, especially, the rhetoric and whatnot is disappointing and upsetting. There is so much anger out there… emotions are running high, and there is an even greater lack of rational thought…

Frankly, I hate it. This election — any election, really — should be approached with care and thought. This election, on the other hand, seems really driven by a desire to “punish” President Bush — it doesn’t matter who we put in, so long as we put him out.

That’s just wrong.

As I’ve said before, I’m not convinced that re-electing Bush is the best course of action. But senselessly voting aginst him because of a feeling that he stole the 2000 election (which he didn’t), is to disrespect the process.

Indecision 2004

I saw the second presidential debate the other night, and it really solidified a few things in my mind. First of all, I really feel cut off from the political process — I don’t feel that either major party represents my interests at all.

Traditionally, I’ve voted Republican. Despite my agreement with some of the socially progressive ideas of the Democratic party, I feel that the fiscal responsibility traditionally championed by the Republicans was more important. I don’t care how good an idea is, if you can’t afford it, you can’t afford it. I also tend to favor the “smaller government” idea — I think that people are capable of running their own lives, and the government should stay out of that as much as possible.

However, the current administration has showcased the worst excesses of the Republican party (at least, in my opinion), and I don’t feel comfortable voting for them again. Kerry, on the other hand, I am familair with as a long-time Massachusetts resident (18 years). I don’t trust him, and I don’t trust his politics. Despite all the talk that’s been going around the last couple of weeks, I have yet to hear any real plan that will effect the changes he’s talking about.

So, for the first time ever in my political career, I am adrift. A man without a party (though, based on what I’ve heard from other people, hardly the only one). I’ll try and watch the last debate (this coming Wednesday), but I’m really expecting more of the same.

I’m not sure yet, but I’m pretty sure that I will vote for a third party candidate (to increase the percentage of the vote they receive — in Maine it helps ensure they’re on the ballot next time around).

There really needs to be some kind of change in the political dynamic in this country. It seems a shame that my generation seems to not care enough to get involved.

Well, a little under a month and it will be over (for this cycle, anyhow). I don’t care who you vote for, but I urge you to get out and vote. Get involved in the process, learn what you can about the candidates (locally and nationally), and make a choice.

Is it just me…

… or does George Lucas remind you of that guy who never finishes the book he’s working on because he wants to make just one more rewrite?

I know, I know, it’s been about three months since my last entry. I can tell you’re all really devestated by the lack of updates from the land of Josh (I can hear you sniggering in the back… humor me, okay?)

This whole Star Wars DVD thing, where there are even more changes made — these aren’t just the special editions from a few years back, these are DVD editions! For God’s sake, George, can’t you leave well enough alone? Do we really need to see the gungans celebrating at the end of Return of the Jedi? Do we really need to see Hayden Christensen in that final scene with Yoda, Ben Kenobi, and Annakin Skywalker?

Do you believe your audience to be so unimaginative that they can’t understand (and accept) the differences between the first trilogy and the second?

Not to say I’m not going to buy it… but if I could have just one wish in regards to this, it would be to have the originals available on DVD as well, sans special enhancements, added scenes, etc. etc.I’m getting a certain sense of lost cinematic history, here.

It may be time to buy some software to make a digital copy of the original VHS trilogy. Some things must be preserved.

Last Samurai

Finally caught The Last Samurai last night. It was a decidedly mixed bag — really cool samurai (and ninja) action, but a bit heavy on the “white man’s burden” stuff about how western civilization has done nothing but destroy noble and honorable cultures.

It felt like Dances with Wolves with katana.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not debating that western cultural imperialism has done some pretty shitty stuff over the years, but the underlying message in this movie annoyed me. It seems to have become fashionable to knock the historical legacy of western culture, despite the amount of good it has done the world.

There was also a bit of a Braveheart to it — a small band of rebels going up against nearly insurmountable odds, and winning the respect of their foes.

Meh.

Again, cool battle stuff, cool historical accuracy, annoying thematic message.

Still plugging away…

Once again, there are no significant updates to the material on the website, but once again, there is a reason for that — and it doesn’t mean I’ve been slacking off!

First of all, at my “day job” we’ve spent the last couple of weeks training for the new contract we’re servicing. The training was kind of easy, because 90% of the stuff they were teaching us we already knew… but the training ran from 7am to 3pm. Since I’ve been working 2pm to 10pm the last three years (or so) my whole schedule was thrown out of whack.

It can be tough to update a website when you’re desperately needing sleep.

I’ve been continuing my work on the Workings of Magic chapter for the Earthdawn Classic Player’s Compendium. I’ve been in semi-regular contact with James Flowers (current line developer) and Lou Prosperi (former line developer) to make sure that everything is up to snuff. It’s fun, but it’s a lot of work.

Hopefully, we’ll be playing Earthdawn tonight… but at this particular moment whether we will or not remains to be seen… the lovely wife was put through the paces in her first week back at school, and may choose to sit out and get some homework done instead of gaming. She also has an 8am class, so it’s likely to be an early night.

Which is cool — your real life should take priority over fantasy life. It’s good to relax and blow off steam with an RPG, but when your real life suffers… you should take a step back and examine why you feel the need to shirk your responsibilities.

That about does it for now. See you ’round the net!

Always a new release in the queue

Sometimes I really hate my hobby.

Not from an enjoyment level, of course — I still get a lot of enjoyment out of it. No, I’m talking about the slew of new stuff coming out later this that I will desperately want to own, even if I never play it.

Brief list? Well, there’s Ars Magica fifth edition. Paranoia XP, Earthdawn Classic (though I probably won’t have to pay for copies of those books *grin*), the new World of Darkness and Vampire: the Requiem.

*sigh*

I’m sure there are others, but that’s just off the top of my head. It’s been several years since I really wanted to go on a big RPG spending-spree, but this summer (and fall) looks like my wallet is going to take a hit.

I look forward to it.

Observations made while travelling in northern Maine…

Yesterday, for Mother’s Day, my wife I drove up to Lincoln, Maine (about an hour north of Bangor, where we live) to have dinner with her family. This is odd, because all of her family either lives in the Bangor/Brewer area, or lives south of the Bangor/Brewer area.

Anyway, the reason for the northward trek was to have dinner at a particular chinese restaurant that my mother-in-law wanted to go to. The food was okay — certainly nothing spectacular in my opinion, but that’s beside the point. There are a couple of amusing things I noticed during the trip — things you’re only likely to see in northern Maine (or perhaps a similarly rural area)…

There was a self-serve car wash (which are scattered across the countryside like dandelions up here) that had a bay large enough for the tractor part of a tractor-trailer (I’d never personally seen anything like that before). And it was in use at the time for just that purpose.

The other thing I found really amusing (and this is almost certainly a pure Maine thing), the restaurant we went to was having a buffet (as most chinese restaurants in the area do at one time or another). One of the items in the buffet was fried clams.

Yes, that’s right… not some kind of clever chinese-food take on this Maine dietary staple, but breaded and fried clams just like you can get at any roadside stand down on the coast.

I mean, I like seafood as much as the next guy (at least, the next guy who likes seafood), but when I go to a chinese buffet… I don’t expect to see something like that.

And they weren’t even the good fried clams — you know, whole clams with the belly intact — but the less appealing (but more tourist friendly) clam strips.

You just have to wonder sometimes.