gamer pig test blog

A game finally . Well what would probably be a game. Anyway, there is a distinct possibility of two games: one on friday night and the other on saturday noon. Still, I'm not that excited, despite this being what I want, eggs haven't hatched. Friday night game is 8-12 here at the condo (if my wife alows), and Sat game is here also at the condo noon to 5. Byzantium . Organizing my notes and arranging them in SJG format. My only problem is that Open office is not as good as a specialized layout program. Anyway, fixed up the warrior templates, will fixed up the rogue (non-combat) ones next. Then proceed to finish the empress art. Working on the Military Ranks right now, 6th century is a funny thing because despite the presence of the Strategikon explain everything in simple terms NO one has converted it into an oganized body of notes?!? Saw the GURPS wish list and maybe I can arrange an adventure proposal, since my Byzantine game can easily be converted to a Banestorm Megalos Camp...

Games I can run . There is Caravan to Ein Arris which I converted to locations near my byzantine game (renamed Caravan to Airyanem Vaējah ), There is also Fantasy Harkwood which is a game I would allow magic in since Its not my setting, and there is a Traveler adventure I could run based on Firefly, and the Roma Arcana adventure seed (adjusted of course). I'm planning to rehash a video or two to make my byzantine opening. Its a saturday, and all I'm gonna do is play Civ 4. No game today :(

Work . Finished the Equipment packages. With that done, I'll be rounding off the Soldier NPC templates and cleaning it up. Then will work on the Main Character creation aid. Trying to remember to keep it all short and simple. If people want more detail, Wiki it, Google it or find a book about it. Gaming . This is a long dry spell... even if I'm offering basic gurps fantasy. A guy summed it up in the boards: People don't want to leave their comfort zone . Its ok, its just don't know how to change my situation. What a strategy game taught me is look at the current trend and look for a way out of it. Did that, been try to meet people online and actually stooped to a new low going to these "meets". Its hard, I'm getting less and less into it. I don't know how long this will last. There is gotta be a group out there (or just one more person) out there who needs a GM. Although I just need 2 players open to it. Anyway, planning to run Harkwood next time, si...

whine . anyway, been trying to get to the empress card and it sucks eggs. I've gotten the emperor look down pat now I'm thinking more bella belluci for the empress. She was a burlesque beauty and the emperor had all the power to get a more charming and pretty woman? A "celebrity" child like her best friend antonina any gorgeous mature actress can capture her quite well. Anyway, I'm trying to make it shady and dark like the image in my head but I'm hitting really large bumps on the road. Oh well... working at it but I gotta leave cause its our only chance to take advantage of that free gift voucher from the Penn since our wedding.

Worked on this . Was planning to make a bunch of CCG sized cards of characters and casts with a simple break down of their abilities. As emperor he has status 8, Courtier+4, Mastermind+3, Magistrate+5, Excubitor+2, Strategos+2, Forces+10. (basically an average of all the skills and advantages involved ) Current Projects . A mix of write ups and drawings. editing the comic as a more matured style is in the process. Hope I don't take too much time. So many things to do.

Imagine . Too much information. I know understand more than ever before how battle lines are arranged and how byzantines deploy their troops. The image of a Strategos exhorting his men: " Show these Barbarians how Romans wage War! ". Then the image of blocks of men moving like chess pieces into formation. Some moving quickly and disorganized carrying axes and swords. While those behind them, move in a solid formations, shields overlaping and pikes forward. Then like a soccer game, the flankers move quickly into position (waiting to receive the "ball") and skirmishers begin their suppressive fire (bringing the ball up). Enemies have the same positions, forwards, defenders, strikers, flankers etc. etc. all intercepting and attacking the most vulnerable unit. Generals only make only two or three moves, everything else is left to the soldier's training, as units try to react appropriately against feints, shock tactics, and outmaneuvers. Like any game we have played ...

Arson . Thanks for the support dude. i missing my old notes of that game. Its almost a year ago since we last played. not to mention, no one else is interested in playing. These days I'm looking for anyone who wants to play the games I can run. working . Focusing on small projects instead of something that takes too much time as i grasp the limits of my mental endurance. Couldnt draw today, everything I sketched just sucked. So i laid the ground work instead. Byzantium . Been reading History of Wars book V and VI: the Gothic War. Simple, Interesting and Chuck full of gamable elements. What if the PCs were those sent by the emperor early on in 527? What if something accelerated events to push the Emperor to war in that year? Given the Cast of Characters, from Mundus and Mauricus, Costantinus and Bessas, Hypatius, Peter, Probus , etc. etc. There is a lot of cloak and dagger action and small combat encounters to make the PC's head spin. If the PCs survive this, there is the War wi...

Feeling like a Dinosaur . I'm not gaming anymore. Not even hoping to GM. Sometimes I say I'm gonna GM but reality is far from it. I look back and think of the critisisms of my GMing. Its not like I'm able to correct them, not like I've had a chance. But thinking about at all the Gaming peripherals that litter my room. How much I work so hard to make it as easy to imagine and to understand. How much I try to be an open mind and allow critism to my work while related why my decisions were made. I know my time has gone. My original group fell apart. The glue of the group left, things were said that can never be taken back, and I had many experiences to move past and understand. A long time ago, me and a bunch of friends broke away from a parasitic group. I was a freshman then, and thought things could last forever. Of course, at 19 I've never thought of what 10 years in the future would be like. Now, seeing how it was like, I would have warned myself. I would have prep...

heads up . My Cell is out of action. YM and Landline being the best ways to reach me for now.

Charismatic . my favorite civ now is Carthage. I didn't know how much easier it is with money. No wonder financial is such a simple but powerful advantage. Then there is Charismatic, which provides happiness and 25% discount on XP allowed me to make one of the highest leveled units I ever had. Shaka Khan . My Zulu campaign i won time victory. War is hard, and when your focused on war, its hard to do anything else. The Carthage Game was awesome because I went to war with a TON of money. I mean, 30,000 troops ELITE troops, and had money to keep research up, buy city improvements, bribe my enemies and protect my flank. History of Wars by Procopius . Detailed enough to be a campaign. Filled with enough characters and details about them to make a REALLY interesting game or fiction. Details concerning the response of the Byzantine Emperor's response and miltiary forces. The Strategicon . Byzantine armies are like soccer teams. Assault Troops ( Forwards ) . Move aggressively forward t...

GURPS gamer . A survey conducted by WotC when they were acquiring DnD, was about the demographics of players. 2% of the American population have been exposed to RPGs. Of that 2% less than 1/20th play. This tiny fraction is further divided into genre's, styles, and systems. In the Philippines, about 2% of the population who's earnings can afford these games and have a lifestyle that is similar to that of an average American of a population of 90million. Thats 1.8million. If you use the same kind of statistics as a reference, there is possibly 36,000 people exposed to RPGs in the Philippines. Of that 36k, 1,800 play. Thats 1,800 people who play rpgs, 70% play DnD and the rest fringe game systems. In the survey, only 2% of these people play GURPS. Thats around 36 people. I know of a few in Davao, I play with a good handful as well in bobby's group, then there is those GURPS gamers who i've heard of somewhere around, who also bought the GURPS magic copy i did in c...

kathy and thomas . thanks for the support guys, i don't know how long i'd last without it :D. Will try to do better and make some sooner next time :D. Hannibal . I won time victory, but I can't help it. Economic dominance is harder than cultural or miltiary. When you have the most money, it doesn't matter if your the nicest or peaceable one, everyone doesn't like you. Anyway, i continued to 2079 to CRUSH all my enemies. That smug Isabella, who gave me a hard time, as she had the advantage of not having any adjacent culture for inevitable conflict. Then Wong who keeps giving me lousy tech bargins near the end game. Then there was everyone else who declared war without provocation. Although I had to admit, in the diplomatic scale, they got it coming. After Egypt, England and Spain, land control is at 80% whoohoo! finished with 5000 points. Not bad for a someone who doens;t do military.

I'm done with this . I have to work on the comic now. I'll just follow up the NPCs when i'm done with the inks. If I finish the comic, at least my pitch is ready. Its not that good. I'm not proud of it. But I have to get used to this feeling. I have to work on my speed and concentration levels. Work faster and work better eventually. Get a project down faster and get moving. Fuck pretty, i can work on pretty on the next try. Thomas . Yeah i should. I'll try to finish the next one asap. Anyway its mostly done already anyway.

Hail Byzantia . The Byzantine Empire is now part of the newest expansion of Civ 4! ...and guess who leads it :D It will take alot of effort to learn to play religious diplomatic strategy. I hate having to make missionaries and convert convert convert. Carthage . I can't win with carthage. Everyone hates me immediately and I always get the WORST start up terrain. Even if I play all the angles, map out the happy huts, and play different strategies I still don't do as well as when I play greeks. I'm trying to make carthage kick ass and have another shot at empire but its very hard to play the diplomacy part. In one game, Japan perpetually hates me. Its freaking annoying. Its like the time the French hated me, no matter what i did or when we shared the same religion, civics, and diplomatic efforts they picked fights for me. Work . Heh. The drawing is to big, but thats another challenge. Now that I had time away, the germanic warrior drawing isn't so bad.

ARGGG.. . my horse archer is not going well. Doesnt look effeminate enough. I'm all for bodies fitting their roll, you won't see massive boobs on my athletic females. Niether do I make them anorexic. Its pissing me off, I need a woman's eyes to see whats wrong with the pic? is it the shoulders, the proportions? I don't know. I'm stumped :( I'm right smack in the middle of it and I can't continue unless the build is perfect, that way i can proceed to ink everything else without a doubt. Shoot. its 4?!? been working straight till 4? I missed lunch? better get something to eat or keep working then have dinner with wifey nalang. Anyway, i'll finish this so that I can work on the sketch details of the Byzantine Comic. Must try to finish as much as possible before the week ends. Other things done . Fixed up a Calling card. but not a business calling card... well technically its business since I'm still pitching mahadlika and my game design skills.