The Anarchy Cross

Steampunk Campaign is a GO! (maybe)

2011-11-21T11:32:00.003-06:00

Okay, so I'm getting the ball rolling here with my campaign. Slowly. I've cleaned up my old forums, since nobody uses them anymore. Hopefully, with the new forums and with some of the newer functions that proboards have FINALLY added (like sub-forums), things will be a little nicer. Each game, if and when other games are added, can have its own sub-forum. But for now, Steam-Age Arcanius will have full reign of the main RP room. Like you guys care though...

Anyways, linkage to the resurrected forums!

EDIT: Okay, I should record the character creation rules here, before I forget again -.-

300 character points
No Dynamic Powers
Power Flux under GM approval only
Mythic benchmarks: most attributes cap at 5; except for toughness, extra energy, combat techniques, special defense, special movement, and anything else that might make sense (talk to me if you're unsure)
Steam-Punk skill costs

Questions? Ask 'em. You can get ahold of me via forums, facebook if you've friend'd me and some point, or texting my cell.

-Locke Alexander, building his Steam-Punk Mecha Throne from which he shall rule Arcanius from!

Steam-Punk: Technology

2011-08-24T10:11:00.004-05:00

Hop on Wiki and search Steam Punk and you'll have a good idea of the tech. But I do have particular examples for this world. Enjoy.

Weapons:

Impact Hammer

This massive hammer, normally used by Steam Knights (although stronger people have been known to wield these two handed), possess a large revolver ammo chamber filled with tank shells. Because of a pressure plate, this hammer will fire a shell upon impact, dealing massive damage. Originally intended as an anti-tank weapon, but it's proven itself to be effective against many different targets. However, it's large size and weight, along with the decreasing weight as shells are fired, it's an inaccurate weapon against smaller targets.

stats:

Weapon lv 3 (hammer): muscle, inaccurate, hands

Weapon lv 3 (shell): linked (hammer), backblast, ammo 1, unreliable

item cost: 1/2([2*3+1-2]+1/2[2*3+1-3])= 3 points

Steam Knight

These 10-12 foot tall steam-powered mechanical armor are the newest and greatest advancement in steam-powered warfare. Because of the dragonite core that helps the armor produce steam, these are somewhat rare (until alchemical sciences have created a stable artificial dragonite). Most units have about a dozen or two. Unlike tanks, these are far more flexible when it comes to mobility and terrain it can cross.

These are the stats for the standard issue Steam Knight with a shield/arm cannon and power claw. More advanced ones will use actual hands and weapons.

stats:

Armor lv 4 (8)

Jumping lv 1 (2)

Super Strength lv 1 (8)

Weapon lv 4 (arm cannon): range 2, area 1, ammo 2, activation 1 (7)

Weapon lv 3 (power claw): muscle, penetrate 1, inaccurate 1 (3)
Shield lv 2, lv 4 armor (8+4)

Awkward Size lv 1 (12 feet tall) (-4)
Impaired Manipulation lv 1 and lv 2 (one usable arm; claw hand) (-3 and -6)
Sensory Impairment lv 1: reduced visibility and hearing (-3)
total item cost: 1/2(8+2+8+7+3+12-4-3-6-3)= 12 points

Next time, we eat clown shoes.
Not really, character creation next time

Steam Age: Factions

2011-08-17T12:31:00.004-05:00

The Golden Empire of Tarnis
population: 3 million (70% human, 20% half-human, 10% other)
Current leader: Jakob Tarnis (17th Emperor since Empire's creation)
Tech status: heavily industrialized
Magic status: strictly controlled

The Empire used to be viewed as what humanity could achieve with hard work and perseverance. But since Emperor Jakob took the the throne 6 years ago, the whole country has fallen into decay. His demand for power has brought ruin to the Empire. Only 3 years ago did he declare war upon the elves and began his invasion. Some progress has been made, but the Imperial Legion has been pushed back more times than they'd care to admit.

Industralization started about 25 years ago, and while the Dwarves have the jump on them, the humans are quickly becoming the strongest in steam-tech. Advances in firearms have been lead by the humans, and they are only second to the Dwarves in Steam Knight tech (the Dwarves do tend to keep the best stuff for themselves...)

Astetics: The Empire has a WW1 German fashion to them. However, weaponry has a industralized version of the Roman Empire (IE: gladius, sword and gun legions, etc). Artechure also follows this style.

The Elven Kingdom
Population: 1.5 million (75% elves, 15% half-elves, 5% humans, 5% other)
Current leader: Queen Eyrian
Tech status: light industrialization
Magic status: very prevalent

The long-lived elves have always been patient, but when Emperor Jakob began his invasion of Elven territory, the elves quickly proved to be a greater opponent than the humans expected.

The elves were slow to take up steam-tech, but after seeing the Empire's general success with it, they followed suit after a decade. They still don't use much steam-tech for war, as mages fill up the majority of their siege methods. Fire arms are quickly becoming very common amongst the half-elves and the occasional Steam Knight appears on the battlefield on the elven side.

Ascetics: The Elves are heavily influenced by Ancient China. They like to use chinese long swords, bows, spears, etc. Guns are still at a flintlock rifle style at the moment.

Dwarven Merchant Guilds
Population: unsure (primarily Dwarven, but other races have joined)
Leader: varies from guild to guild
Tech: Heavily industralized
Magic: none (dwarves can't cast spells)

The Merchant Guilds have done a great job of staying out of the war between the elves and the Empire. They've done such a great job that they're supplying both sides with weapons and equipment and profiting heavily. Thankfully, they have done nothing the egg on the conflict, but only stand to profit from it.

The Dwarves invented most of steam-tech. While the humans have improved upon the designed greatly, the Dwarves have learned to reverse engineer this improvements and further enhance their tech. As it stands, they possess the most advanced Steam Knights and have even created giant Steam Titans.

Barbarian Tribes
Population: varies from tribe to tribe (primarily beastmen, orcs, half-oni, and humans)
Tech: low
Magic: low

The barbarian tribes are dispersed throughout the world. While they've stayed out of the war for the most part, a few tribes have hired themselves out as mercenaries. Some raid towns and villages for resources, while some are nomadic and avoid society at large.

Bandits, Raiders, and other Outlaws
Population: mostly human or half human
tech: low-mid (varies from one gang to the next)
magic: very low

Bandit gangs exist everywhere throughout the Empire and the world. Usually it's just rebelous folk who are fed up with the Empire, or those who can't make a living otherwise. What little Steam-Tech they use has been pilfered from their victims.

Undead Courts
Population: unknown (99% undead)
Leader: various Lords who rule the Court
Tech: mid
Magic: high

The Undead haven't gotten involved in the war yet, but some believe that they might butt in when the time is right, taking out everyone when they're at their weakest. Not much is really known about the Undead Courts.

The Undead have recently started to use Steam-Tech in their necromancy. They have made major successes in the field of steam-bionics, although this may be because the pain usually assocated with bionics is extreme, something which the undead can ignore easily.

Astetics: Egyptian themed!

Druidic Circle
Population: less than a thousad
Leader: various druids and dryads
tech: none
magic: very high

If anyone will be backing up the elves (and they have in small ways already), it would be the druids. However, they have been staying out of the fray for the most part. They've defended their own territories from the Empire, but never gone on the offensive.

Dragon Knights
Population: barely over a hundred
Leader: Supreme Paladin Shunaka
Tech: low
Magic: low

There are few organizations that are more powerful than the Dragon Knights. Their skills are second to none. They don't need tech or magic to do what they do - it's all spirital powers. They exist to deal with the world greatest threats, such as the creatures from the Demon Plains. Because of this purpose, they have stayed completely out of the war. However, a select few have left the Knights to join their homeland in this war.

Asetics: Samurai style bad-ass-ness.

Coming soon: technology!! (hopefully)

Steam Age Arcanium

2011-08-11T22:04:00.002-05:00

MysTek hasn't been my only campaign project. Over the past few weeks, I have been rolling over a new idea - a Steam-Punk/Fantasy campaign. Here's a little bit of the story for this campaign

You, and your party, were a part of the invading Legion for the Golden Empire of Tarnis. The Imperial Legion's conquest was cut short, as they were pushed back by the Elven Kingdom. During the Legion's retreat through a valley, you were ambushed and seperated from your unit. For some of you, this is a blessing in disguise - you were drafted into the Legion and at this point, you'll be recorded as MIA, which means you can leave the army and return home. For a small select few, this is a chance to prove yourself to the Empire and fight your way back to your unit.

Regardless of your choices, it's going to be a long trip home...

Coming soon: races and factions

MysTek: Character Gen - Skills

2011-08-10T13:25:00.002-05:00

I should've put this online sooner...

Skill costs for MysTek

Acrobatics 3
administration 1
animal training 1
architecture 3
area knowledge 2
artisan 1
bio science 1
boating 2
burglary 1
climbing 3
computers 4
controlled breathing 1
cultural arts 1
demolitions 3
disguise 2
domestic arts 1
driving 2
electronics 4
etiquette 1
foreign culture 1
forgery 1
gaming 1
interrogation 2
intimidation 2
languages 1
law 1
mechanics 4
medical 2
military sciences 2
navigation 3
occult 3
performing arts 1
physical sciences 2
Piloting 4
poison 1
police science 1
powerlifting 2
riding 1
seduction 2
sleight of hand 2
social sciences 1
sports 1
stealth 3
street sense 1
swimming 2
urban tracking 1
visual arts 1
wilderness tracking 1
wilderness survival 2
writing 1

Notes:
Computers - this covers computers, programing, and other ditigal applications. This does include Actualizer programing

Electronics - beyond the usual, this also covers the nature of Magical Circuitry within MysTek. Understanding how magic circuits work is very helpful. Useful for repairing MysTek equipment.

Mechanics - this covers the mechanical end of actualizers and MysTek. Also useful for repairing MysTek equipment.

Occult - new specialization: magic arts. this covers spell casting and magecraft. Theoretical knowledge of MysTek is also covered in the occult skill.

Note again: these are not finalized skill costs. I may drop them some.

Mystek: Character Generation

2011-07-24T13:44:00.002-05:00

So, we're finally at the point where we're making characters. About bloody time. Been itching to get to this point for a while. Anyways, here's the run down:

200 character points
Use Heroic Benchmarks (pg 10), but do not worry too much about point allocation percentages
Double cap for the following Attributes: Toughness, Combat Techniques, Energy Bonus, Features, and Special Defense (when it makes sense)
Extra Actions has half cap (level 2 at this point)
Banned is Dynamic Powers and Power Surge requires GM approvial
Skill cost list will be generated a little later.
Item has a cap: 40 points total, and no one item can cost more than 20 points.

About the Weapon attribute, in particular with the vampiric customization: you cannot combine the second rank with Stat Drain. If you do, I will not allow you to surpass your normal Stats. This was a minor confusing issue with the previous run of the game and I'd much rather avoid that issue right out.

If you have questions, ask away.

Mystic Technology 101

2011-06-28T18:30:00.003-05:00

Somewhere, I read a quote that basicly went like this: when technology advances fair enough, it will be like magic. I took this to heart for this setting.

MysTek is, dispite what you may think, technology at its core. No matter how much magic is involved, it's still science and technology. Admittedly, it's at the super-science level of tech and kind of ignores normal conventions, but that's not the point. The magic part is really the power source for this tech and allows for unusual abilities.

MysTek is very different from the rest of the tech in the world. Where alchemy-based tech is very steam-punk in style and appearance, MysTek is shiny, glowy, and generally pretty awesome looking. You can always tell what is MysTek from the glowing magic circuits that cover them like an inorganic nervous system. This can be easily compared to the glowing lines seen in games such as Zone of the Enders, Too Human, or even the movie Tron.

Although unofficial, there are 3 main catagories for personal MysTek gear: offense, defense, and utility. That said, many of these items fall under more than one catagory.

Let us give some examples of MysTek gear...

Twin Bee Enforcers
This pair of pistols fire magically created bullets. They work as a pair, and parting the two pistols makes them both useless. They're favored by gunslingers. The Barrage special attack allows the user to effectively empty the clips of both pistols into a target.

[stats] total cost: 10 character points
Weapon (pistol right) level 3: range 2 (2*3/2+2=5)
Weapon (pistol left) level 3: range 2 (2*3/2+2=5)
Weapon (Barrage attack) level 4: range 1, auto-fire (3), deplete 1 (10 ep), activation 1 (2*4+1+3-1-2=10)

Astral Armor
This belt, when activated, bestows a ethereal suit of armor and wings. While it's great for those who wish to travel light, activating the armor costs a considerable amount of energy.

[stats] total cost: 10 character points
Armor lvl 5 (10 armor): deplete 5 (1 EP/round) (2*5-5=5)
Flight lvl 2 (30 kph): dependent 1 (on armor) (8*2-1=15)

Cloud Stomper Boots
These heavy boots are prized by those who need a little extra hop in their step. They grant their user the ability to leap higher and to bounce off walls.

[stats] total cost: 3 character points
Jumping lvl 2 (10x normal) (2*2=4)
Special movement lvl 1 (wall bouncing) (1*2=2)

[more coming soon]

The Raider's Guide to the MysTek Ruins (pt 2)

2011-06-27T13:03:00.002-05:00

[More clips from Issac Forland's book! ]

Pirates:
Bastards. Pricks. All around assholes. Nothing is more annoying than being attacked by Pirates on your way home from a ruin run. Chances of it, they don't have the nice gear you and your team will have, but they make up for it in numbers. The various Pirate Clans are scattered throughout the world, and most exist to take everything you have. If you can talk your way out of an attack, props to you. But that doesn't really ever happen. Unless you have some really big guns on your air ship.

Hunters:
The only thing more irrating than Pirates are the Hunters. They are few in numbers and are poorly armed, but what they can do instead is what makes them a major threat. These guys are fanaticals who believe that magic and MysTek is pure evil and seek to destroy all of it. So of course, Raiders are a prime target for them.

You would think a bunch of crazies wouldn't pose that much of a threat, but they do. They have figured out how to disable and nulify magic. Be prepared to use a crossbow or something on them, because really, that laser blaster is useless against them. Avoid them whenever possible. They're not worth the trouble to fight.

Governmental Pricks:
Not all of the government officials will be nice. Many will seek to take advantage of you, and it's no surprise. You gather some of the greatest loot in the world and they want a piece of it. Never sell to them - they should be getting their MysTek through the Guild. However, don't be surprised if you have to bribe your way past them to get to ruins or whatnot.

[more coming soon]

The Raider's Guide to the MysTek Ruins

2011-06-26T18:04:00.004-05:00

[This is text from the book that's consider the bible of MysTek ruins. A renowned raider himself, Issac Forland is currently the leader of the Frost Bite team. Sadly, his writing skills aren't so hot. With that said, it is one of the few actual guides to surviving the most dangerous professions in the world.]

Issac talks about:

MysTek:
This is where it's all at. If you want any chance to survive the ruins, you need to get your hands on some of these wonderful items. Ironically enough, the primary way to get MysTek is to search the ruins. The conundrum is not lost to anyone. For the sake of ease, I'll refer to MysTek as 'MT'.

These items come in many different forms. From weapons, to armor, to silly jewelry, to vehicles - MysTek has many functions. All items are covered in glowing lines called Magic Circuits. Thankfully, a MT user can dim these glowing lines for the sake of concealment with a small effort of will. Many items draw power from the source of all Mana, the Leylines. However, some gain power from their users' pool of Mana. The average Raider has 3-4 MT items. Usually a weapon, armor, and some sort of support item. It should also be noted that there is a small selection of reproduction MysTek items. Most of these are communication devices and shield belts. There's also the newer Air Ship engines, but those are pretty pricey. Older Alchemical engines are easier to get a hold of.

The Gatekeepers Guild:
The Guild is the one thing that unifies every single MysTeam in the world. They keep the teams in check and prevents the rookies from doing something truly stupid. Ages ago, these guys sealed the ruins during the Mana Wars, in hopes of stopping the Wars altogether.

The GK Guild has laid down some ground rules for the Teams:
1) only enter the ruins you have access to. Do so with caution and report to the local branch before entering.
2) Do not attack other Teams.
3) Report any irregularities discovered within the ruins (such as Revenants).
4) Check in all salvaged items from the ruins for inspection.

There are many many branches throughout the world. They all keep contact with the main HQ, which sits upon the largest land-bound ruin of the world, the Black Citadel.

MysTeams:
While a select few scour the ruins alone, the majority of the raiders are smart enough to work as teams. Someone in the Gatekeepers came up with the cheesy name of MysTeams. It stuck. To form a team, and thus gain access to the ruins, you must register yourself and your team with the Gatekeepers. They do a few tests, mostly to make sure you won't get killed right off the bat in the ruins. Each team also has an air ship to call their own. Without one, it'd be impossible to reach most of the ruins. The GK does not supply any of the equipment or air ships a team needs, but will point a prospective raider in the right direction on how to acquire such items.

The Ruins:
The remnants of the Golden Age of Magic. For being from such a glorious age, you would have thought they would aged better. Regardless, this is the biggest source of MysTek items, and thus a raider's income and equipment. Within these ruins lie many dangers. Actualizers, Revenants, traps, decomposing structure, etc.

Actualizers:
Also known as Actors for short (sometimes even Acts), these mechanical golems defend the ruins. Every one has a purpose, and every one can be a threat to raiders.

There are 4 known classes: Worker, Guardian, Monster, and Seraph.

Workers:
These come in animal and insectiod forms. Generally not a great threat except in numbers. They perform various menial tasks. They vary from the Scarabs to the Bears to the Wasps.

Guardians:
The primary threat in the ruins are the guardians. They come in humanoid form, and often times armed to the teeth. Assume that each one can kill you and approach with caution. Each one is named based on armaments and tactics.

Monsters:
Large and powerful, these are few and far between. Thank god for their rarity. They are incredibly difficult to kill and if you ever face more than one at a time, you will likely be killed. Some of the known Monsters are the Hydra and the Titan.

Seraphs:
Even rarer and nothing short of insanely powerful are the Seraphs. Records show that there were only a handful produced, but to reflect this, they are fully sentient, highly intelligent, extremely dangerous, and worse yet, could pass for a normal human with ease. In all likelihood, the Seraphs rule the other Actualizers. Few humans have ever met one and lived to tell the tale. No one has ever destroyed one, but it may be for the best not to even attempt it.

Revenants:
No one knows much about these abominations, but we do know that they are a strange fusion of living and MysTek. Unlike the occasional person with implanted MysTek (dangerous stuff that is, but it is handy if you can deal with it), Revenants are no longer human in both mind and body. They are fully intelligent, but work as a swarm. Some believe that their minds are connected and their combat tactics can confirm something to that nature.

Regardless of their origin, they are considered the greatest risk you can encounter in the ruins. Thankfully, they are rare. They travel in small packs and are heavily armed, and worst yet, they can adapt their weapons to suit their needs. They will switch between energy weapons to solid ammo weapons to giant meat cleavers in mere seconds to take advantage of whatever weakness you may have. Avoid combat with them at all costs.

Traps:
If Actors and Revenants weren't enough, there are also traps designed into these ruins. You must keep your wits about you as you venture into these ruins. These vary between different ruins - some have gun turrents that pop out of the walls, spiky pits, crush plates, and some ruins are set to self-destruct if you push the wrong button. Be careful in there.

[more coming soon]

Return of Project MysTek

2011-06-25T15:01:00.004-05:00

A few people may know this, those who used to go to my (now dead) forums, I ran a game dubbed 'MysTek'. The game ended in failure because of my own issues, but now I'm bringing it back. Hopefully, I can run it in RL this time. Anyways, if someone wishes to make use of the campaign setting for their own game, you are welcome to. Just give me credit for it.

Project MysTek Campaign setting

Summery of setting:

About 2000 years ago was the end of the Golden Age of Technology. Back then, there was a form of tech that was powered by mana. However, a terrible cataclysm stripped the world of the laylines, the source of mana. And melted the north polar cap, which flooded much of the world. Nobody knows how or why such an event occurred, but it changed everything.

Shortly after the great Cataclysm, war broke out for what remaining mana was left in the world. This was known as the Mana Wars. Eventually, the world entered a Dark Age. This lasted well over a thousand years.

Humanity began to rebuild the old world, using the remaining science of Alchemy to create the world that is today. The leylines had returned to the world. And then 75 years ago, everything changed again - the ancient technology resurfaced.

Mystic Technology, or MysTek, it was called. The ruins of the Golden Age were discovered and with that, their technology. Soon the world scrabbled to get what they could, but it wasn't long before they realized that most of the ruins were sealed.

The Gatekeepers appeared before mankind at this point, revealing that they had sealed the ruins during the Mana Wars to prevent their misuse. And that they were willing to open up the old ruins so that mankind could regain their former glory. The Gatekeepers formed a guild that would regulate the distribution of MysTek, and gathering it. Teams of Raiders gathered to enter the ruins, and retrieve the technology to restore the world.

You are a member of one of these Raider teams. You venture into the ruins in search of MysTek. Be it for fame and glory, riches, knowledge, or to even escape your past - no matter what your ultimate goal is, you must survive the ruins.

More stuff coming soon.

Sigh Times are Tough...

2011-03-03T10:50:00.001-06:00

I should post more often...

Since I know no one will read this, I can rant to my heart's content. I've been bothered with a lot of things lately, most of which is family.

Now, my non-existant readers, before you start assuming this is some angsty teenage (which I happen to fulfill neither of) rant, allow me to explain. In June, I'm getting married. This should be a happy occasion, and I am indeed looking forward to it. My parents are not.

Well, really, I think there has been a lot of miss-communication between me and my parents. I tend to do a piss-poor job of explaining myself. I get put on the spot and I panic. I love my social anxieties...

My parents think that I'm being forced to marry by my girlfriend and her family. This is not true at all. I was given a choice, and had the choice all along. Now, I may be at the point that backing out will make me an ass, which is why I don't plan on backing out. But this is without a doubt, my own choice. At the time when things went into motion, I just went with it. But as time passed, I began to get excited about the whole thing. I went through my period of cold feet, and despite that, I realized that I love my soon-to-be wife very much.

Very few people really understand me. Even less can put up with my whole cocktail of social ineptitude and neurotic psychological problems. I used to believe I was just ADD and bad with people. College really helped bring to light that I'm a lot more fucked up as a person that I originally believed. But this information is good. I learned that I'm not the only person with issues. And that I'm slowly (very slowly) trying to resolve my crap ton of psyche problems. I realized that there's only one person out there who really tries to get me and help me through my problems.

Back when I flunked out of college, I suffered from depression. It was fairly crippling at that. It wasn't the sort that could be solved quickly, or easily. I went through a lot of self-exploration. I scoured my own psyche for the reasons for my problems, believing that finding the source may provide some insight in fixing the issue. There were times that I just cried like a baby. When I realized that I had very little going for me; when I realized that I had very few friends anymore; when I realized that I just sucked at a lot of things that I thought I was good at; When I realized that life was far harsher that I believed it to be... I even considered suicide on a few occasions (and I should note that I take suicide to be a very serious topic). I had thought of hanging myself from the break room balcony at work with bungee cords. I had considered throwing myself off a roof, head first. And I cried every time.

The worst part about all of that depression is that no one noticed. Well, almost no one. My family sure as hell didn't really pick up on it. My friends were too busy with their own crap to figure it out. But my girlfriend did. And she was my saving grace during those days. Even when I was scared out of my mind from the depression, she was there for me. When I considered drinking myself to oblivion and slicing my wrists into pieces, she was there, when no one else was.

I'm a lot to put up with. I get anxious and worked up really easy. Especially dealing with people. I can be wishy-washy at times. I space out or focus on things that don't really matter. I have a horde of geeky hobbies, and not much else. I can be really stubborn about really stupid shit. I'm a picky eater. I have little drive to do anything. I'm missing some common sense. I'm awkward to be around most of the time. I have troubles understanding my own emotions. I have issues.

It's amazing that anyone is willing to put up with all of that. Gods know I wouldn't want to. But my girlfriend does. She loves being with me, every second of the day. She never forces her own decisions onto me, but allows me to choose my own fate and future. I love her.

For once in my life, I feel drive. For once, I actually want to do something other than play video games. For once, I'm willing to stand up for myself and tell everyone to put up with MY shit, and not the other way around. For once, I'm moving towards a future. For once, I may actually be truly happy for the first time in years.

My parents, from what I can tell, do not want me to get married because I'm not done with college yet. To me, it doesn't matter. I will finish college, regardless. It may take a little while longer, but so be it. I don't mind.

I'm being put into a situation that I may be pissed at my family regardless of my choice. I back out of the wedding now, I'll be pissed at them for forcing me to do so, and I own my girlfriend's parents the money they put down on the wedding. If I go through with plans, I may be cut off from my family and I'll be pissed at them for it.

I gave them a chance to cancel this wedding before things got too serious. They didn't understand that, though, and avoided meeting with my g/f's family to discuss things. And now they want to stop it when the money's been put down. I'm not backing down at this point. Too late now, in my book.

Well, if my dad fights me on this tonight, I may have to cut them off. I don't want to, but it feels like I may have to. By the gods I hope that an understanding can be reached...

-Locke

Isaac's Intro

2010-11-29T14:44:00.001-06:00

[Warning - I typed this up for a free form RP, since I'm returning to my Gaia-fag days. Ah how I missed free form RPing... And yes, Isaac is indeed self-narrating.]

In case of the end of the world via demons, vampires, werewolves, and other creatures of the night, there are many means of survival. Most of which include running the hell away from it all and letting the professionals, like the Belmonts, deal with the problem. All in all, this is a good idea.

What I do is not a good idea.

Anyone actually trying to survive the Eternal Night knows that going on the offensive will only get you killed. What I am doing is considered suicide. But this is the way it's got to be for me. Don't ask, please.

So, if you actually plan on going on the offensive, there's some guide lines to remember, especially if you're just a normal guy like me...

Isaac found himself running in the rain, outside of the massive wall that protected Fort Vlahia. The plague that the rain brought didn't bother the man, as the wonders of alchemy and minor magicks kept him mostly healthy. He wasn't sure what he was running from, but he knew he needed to put some space between it and him. At least enough that he can figure out what he was about to fire shotgun shells into. Nothing sucked more than wasting ammo on something that can't die by shotgun shells.

Cardio: when the shit storm hit, it was the fat and lazy guys who went down first. Admittedly, it's not easy to run from a werewolf that's barreling down an alley with you in its sights, but it can be done if you play your cards right. That's why being able to run fast is not enough, but jumping, climbing, and generally awesome acrobatics can save your ass.

The survivor saw a dumpster next to a fire escape. Chance! He leaped onto the dumpster and took a dive for the fire escape ladder, grabbing the side bar and spinning around to the other side of the ladder. Whatever that was chasing Isaac face planted hard into the metal ladder bars and bounced off. Isaac climbed up, noting that he was being chased by a werewolf.

Double Tap: always make sure what you've just killed is dead. No matter how much I may preach about conserving ammo, it never hurts to put another shell in its skull. Especially if its a vampire. Or just about anything, really. And even then, be prepared to keep moving.

The wolf-man scrambled to its feet and jumped onto the fire escape, grabbing the railings and climbing up. Isaac, who was barely up a flight of stairs, drew his sawed-off shotgun and spun around. He didn't have time to aim, so he just pulled the lever out and back and fired from his hip. The blast hit the werewolf in the shoulder and its eyes flared up in pain, teeth gritting. It was the opening the survivor needed – he pulled the lever out again and as it was snapping back into place, Isaac took a quick aim for the head. He pulled the trigger and blasted the wolf-man off the fire escape with a head shot. It crashed into the dumpster below. The soul energy that Isaac's gauntlet drew out of the monster confirmed the kill, but he wasn't paying attention that - he just booked it up the fire escape.

Alchemy: what, were you expecting something else? Right, alchemy. Never ever forget the wonders of alchemy. Specially bullets? Check. Explosives? Check. Healing salve? Double check. Although they don't do the same damage as magic does, the effects can make the difference between a few scratches or a vampire turning you into his next drink.

Isaac holstered the sawed-off, noting that he had to reload it later. He pulled his hunting rifle from his back and clicked off the safety. One werewolf meant more were likely to come. He checked the ammo – silver bullets. Once he got to the top of the fire escape, he broke a window and hoped inside the building. He grabbed a few vials off his belt as he kicked open a door and ran down a hallway. It didn't take long for him to find the door out of the apartment he had just broken into. He heard movement following behind him. Isaac turned around a corner, put some more distance and spun around.

Not even a minute later, another werewolf spun around the corner of the hallway, only to meet a silver bullet in its head. Its head flew back as the feet flew forward and landed on its back, dead. It's soul energy leaped from its chest and sped to Isaac's gauntlet. A second one leaped over the corpse and bounced off the wall towards the survivor. Isaac tossed one of the vials at it. The wolf-man slapped it away and then realized the folly of its instinctive move. The vial exploded in a silver mist and burned the werewolf's arm and face on one side. It howled in pain, and then was shot in the face. It was dead before it hit the ground, it's soul energy already within the gauntlet.

Melee: never go into it willingly, but remember to have options. A good alchemical blade will go a long way. Something small so you can use it if your pinned down. You do not want to be trying to swing that oversized sword around when something is on top of you and wants to go 'om nom nom' on your face.

Isaac didn't get the chance to see it coming, as the wall next to him burst and a greater werewolf came charging at him. He only had time to put his arms in front of him before the monster could slash at him with its claws, and barely at that. The survivor was thrown off his feet and onto his back. The wolf pounced on him, snarling loudly. Isaac reached at his left hip and drew his blade. He could tell that the monster was smiling at him, the type of smile that meant that it was going to eat him in a moment. But the human had no intention of dying there, so he plunged the blade into the creature's side. It howled in pain as Isaac wiggled out of the monsters grip. He grabbed the two vials he had dropped to get his blade and jammed them into the werewolf's mouth. “Eat this!” Isaac kneed the monster's jaw shut. It didn't get a chance to scream in pain as it fell and died. More soul energy was drawn to his gauntlet. The survivor pulled his blade out from the corpse and stabbed in the neck for good measure. He pulled the blade out one last time, cleaned it real quick and sheathed it.

He ruffled through his pockets really quick and pulled out a pack of cigarettes. A quick glance once again reminded him of his bad luck with anything beyond his survival – he was out of smokes. Again. He sighed. “Second time this week.” He opened one of the apartment doors and scoured the living room, finding a pack within a few minutes with a few death sticks. “Bleh, Camel. Oh well, can't be that picky.” Isaac lit up and sat next to a window, watching the rain. He kept his rifle close at hand. Once he finished his smoke break, the man began to head for the ground floor and hoped he could make it to the city gate within the next hour or two.

Sigh...

2010-08-14T13:27:00.003-05:00

Ever wondered why your life sucks sometimes. I am right now. This is going to take a bit of explaining, but maybe I'll feel better afterwards. Maybe.

Remember how I moved out of my parent's a little while back? Well my roommate was a piss-poor choice. You see, he's an asshole, a liar, and a petty emo bitch. He's called my girlfriend a bitch to my face, he's changed the password for the wireless internet that I pay for half, his cat keeps puking all over the carpet and I think it's now shitting on the carpet too, and I can't even relax in my own home now. My girlfriend is literally sick from stress.

There's something very wrong with this picture.

I try my damnnest to be kind and considerate of others. It used to come naturally to me, but now I have to try very very hard to be nice. It's starting to drain the very life out of me. I used to think working retail did that, but it turns out having the bitch for a roommate is far more effective.

Shoot me now, life. I'm sick of this crap. I would love to move out, but I cant get ahold of the damn landlord to get my name off the lease. I need some help...

-Locke

Summer Blues

2010-05-29T11:05:00.002-05:00

Okay, once again I neglect my blog. What else is new? I suppose it's time to update again while I'm bored and the TV is being used to watch Deadliest Catch.

Spring Semester went well. My 3D modeling class was fun and interesting, a nice change from what most of my classes are. Photoshop class was a complete blow off.

I moved out of my parents home to a small town home. My girlfriend moved in a month later. My roommate works with me and is a bit weird. I'm likely to hear him bitch all evening long during my closing shift tonight.

Sadly, I've been bored out of my mind the past few months. While I have Starcraft 2 to play, I've been sucking so bad lately that it's started to get boring. Still going to pick the actual game up when it releases, but it's starting to lose its glory. Haven't been doing any real D&D'ing lately, which is a bummer.

Enough for today. See ya in a few months, maybe.

-Locke

New Semester, New Attempt to Blog More Often

2010-01-21T12:28:00.002-06:00

It's been a while. A long long while. Too long, if you ask anyone.

So where have I been? I've been here, in the internets, lurking endlessly. It's what I do most of the time. But the truth is that I've been fighting depression. You would think that would make posting easy, what with the endless amounts of pointless bitching I could do. But that's not the case. Depression just disables you from doing anything. You drift away from everyone you care about and abandon the things you enjoy. the feeling of worthlessness really makes things difficult.

So what have I been up to? Not much, really. Finally got my revenge upon the two classes I failed 3 years ago (I have A's in them now, so my GPA has risen great deal). My relationship with my girl friend has been rough the past few months, although hopefully things will start working out a bit.

Played a number of newer games: Assassin's Creed 2, Borderlands, Dragon Age: Orgins, and recently Bayonetta. Still got Modern Warfare 2 and Left 4 Dead 2 to install and play, and next week I'll have No More Heroes 2 and Mass Effect 2 to play. After that, there'll be White Knight Chronicles and Bioshock 2. Suffice to say, it's going to be a good year for gaming, and we're not even out of winter yet.

In the anime department, I have a few series to write reviews of. Bakemonogatari for starters. Haven't been watching much anime lately, honestly. Most of the stuff lost my interest quickly, or I didn't care to watch it to begin with.

I fully intend to return to my forums once more. I have been gone far too long and people are begining to assume I may have vanished or died or something. Can't be having that on my own forums, now can I?

Here's hoping I'll post more often.

-Locke Alexander

I can never win, can I?

2009-09-22T10:29:00.002-05:00

Seems like I can't do anything right any more. No matter what I do, something goes wrong. I plan for something, and in turn, it pisses someone else off. I can't seem to win any more. And the worst part is, things haven't even put into motion yet and I've pissed someone off because I told them about it.

Reality really shouldn't play these hands against me. Having to chose between my friends and my girlfriend really sucks. Usually, both is an option, but sometimes it's not. And of course I promised to do hang out with one when the other wants to hang out and then gets pissed when I say I had made plans already.

Am I not allowed to hang out with one without the other every so often?

This sucks.

-Locke

A Champion Returns...

2009-09-01T18:12:00.004-05:00

[this is the result of too much Champions Online...]

Sorata took a deep breath. He knew this wasn't going to be easy. He had been out of the hero business for a year or so. Not since the accident at the Shadow Shard that sent the scrapper to Millennium City. He silently cursed the Council, those damned Neo-Nazi-turned-alien-ruled-bastards.

He could remember waking up at a hospital here in the rebuilt Detroit. Most of Sorata's powers had been lost in the accident. No more channeling negative energy. No more regeneration. He was no longer super powered. No longer a scrapper, even.

He decided it was best to retire from the super hero shinagins for good. Without super powers, what was the point? He'd just get killed in action instead. Sure, there were heroes who managed without powers, but they had special equipment and training. Sorata was not one of those heroes.

But months later, it had seemed that some of his power had returned. While he wasn't channeling negative energy, he had gained super strength. Instead of regeration, his toughness increased. Sorata could return to the world of super heroes if he wished. But he was conflicted. He wanted to get out of it and have a normal life again. Yet a part of his enjoyed the life of a hero - the thrill of jumping into a group of thugs and beating them all down. The adrenaline rush from fighting was a driving power for the former scrapper.

When aliens had attacked Millennium City, he had to make a choice. To become Sorata once more, to fight for good and for his own selfish sense of entertainment. Or to stay a normal person, to never fight again and stay safe.

Sorata took a deep breath. He looked down upon the city from the window of his apartment, watching the alien invasion. He though for only a minute. He shrugged. "Ah fuck it!" And then, Sorata leaped.

The scrapper's fists came crashing down upon the head of one of the alien drones. It dropped from that hit alone. Sorata spun around on the ball of his foot, swinging his backhand around into the face of another alien. It went flying into a wall. A third charged in, swiping claws at the scrapper. But those were just scratches to Sorata. He grabbed it by the shoulders (or what would be considered shoulders) and slammed his head into its head. The crunching feel of its skull giving way to his own headbutt gave Sorata shivers.

The alien group laid defeated on the ground. The scrapper could only grin like an idiot. "It's good to be back."

The Lurking Artist Posts again!!

2009-03-18T09:21:00.003-06:00

So it's been a long long time since I bothered to update this blog. I think I've neglected this long enough. So what the fuck has the mighty Locke been up to? In all reality, not a whole lot. I'm now officially engaged as of September. I'm trying to get myself into Purdue Cal now that I've discovered that they have CGT. I've been trying to get myself back into D&D (this has been a battle because of my inherent laziness). I have a new laptop, which I'm using right this moment to type this. I've been drawing quite a bit lately, though most of it isn't worth posting. Taking a philosophy class (which I'm waiting to start at the moment). Been watching a lot of anime as usual, which I'll likely make a post about sooner or later about one of them.

So yeah. Not a whole lot.

-Locke Alexander

Of Sunburns and Plans for ACEN 08

2008-04-16T17:59:00.003-05:00

Okay, my face right now is feeling like it's on fire. Have I ever mentioned how much I fucking hate sunburns? Let me paint a picture of myself for you now: I am a really pale geek. I avoid going outside during daylight hours for any extended period of time if I can help it.

I push carts for a job. This means I'm outside for 7-8 hours a day.

It's days like this that I hate my job. But enough bitching.

Anywhos, I am going to Anime Central this year, much like I do every year. As things are going, I will be there for Saturday and Sunday.

In other news, my dad picked up Assassin's Creed for PC recently, so I've been playing that and enjoying it. Like the last time I played it (back when it came out for 360/PS3), I've had the urged to play an assassin character in D&D again. I'll likely get over that sometime after I finish the game...

And for the record, I really really hate sunburns...

On a random side note, I have just discovered that I have had this blog for about a year now. Go me.

-Locke

Of Boozed Filled Nights

2008-03-01T23:55:00.002-06:00

Dear Internet,

I have experienced something I never wanted to deal with tonight - helping a drunk person while they're sick. As someone who doesn't drink, I do not fear the after effects of booze, such as the vomiting or the horrible depressing crash that happens later. However, watching your girlfriend go through that stuff is not fun. On the other side, it does bring out some of the funnier parts of people...

I think I will leave it at that. I'm going to head to bed now, for I do no feel too good and I am tired. Good night Internet.

-Locke

Holy Crap, it's a POST!

2008-02-22T13:51:00.003-06:00

Sigh... Why do I lose track of time and forget my blog so often? I mean, I enjoy writing about random crap all the time, so why do I forget to update my blog so easily? Is it really that difficult to come to blogger and log in and start typing?

Okay, random ranting of that sort done.

I have returned to City of Heroes, only to find out that there's a bug that's keeping me from logging into my characters unless I'm in safe mode (and I assure you, I refuse to play in safe mode). Thankfully, the newest patch on test has fixed the problem, but I have to wait for them to take it to live.

In other news, I have begun a new campaign, since my last one died when I lost interest. This new one is heavily inspired by the awesomeness that is Castlevania. One big castle, one nasty vampire lord, and a horde of monsters to slay on the way there. It was amazing - I had generated enough interest that I was pumped to run the game. And I've barely had to do anything to get my party together. If that's not an accomplishment, I don't know what is.

I've been keeping up with a number of Anime these days, although only two seem to keep my attention enough to continue downloading the subs. Shakugan no Shana season 2 and Clannad. Shana has finally kicked into high gear after wasting a good 10 episodes of minimal character development. Clannad has only annoyed me a little bit: Fuko's arc was too long for my liking and while I understand they're following the 'main' story, I wish they had chosen a different one, like Tomoyo's story. Kyou's would've been fine too.

Well, I think that's a decent update. Better than some of my older ones.

-Locke Alexander

Random Rantings

2007-11-19T11:58:00.001-06:00

It seems that a lot of things have been working against me in the past month or so. I get tickets I don't deserve, my car's transmission starts acting up, my boss maybe wants to fire me but don't have a good excuse to do it (this is me being paranoid, I'm sure), and now my brother hides his games from me 'specially when I kindly ask to play said games when he isn't. Thankfully, the tickets weren't too much (the one I was guilty of was the more expensive of the two >.<), my car still runs but I can't drive very fast (like above 70), my boss doesn't have a decent excuse to fire me so I still have a job (or he was just in a bad mood that day), and my brother is just a prick who has issues with me for some reason (except when I buy him booze). In other news, I've been drawing again. Nothing too big lately, but I did draw my newest D&D character, Shana (who was named after my favorite loli - Shakugan no Shana). Here's the sketch itself:

Well, I think that's it for today. Maybe I'll have more to talk about on another day.
-Locke

Desire to Kill Rising...

2007-10-20T23:14:00.000-05:00

Okay people, it's time for a Locke rant. And this is one hell of a rant today. In short, I hate cops more than ever because of today. Because the lot of them are dicks.

Okay, so it's about 5:20 when this happened. I was in Hebron, on my way down to Purdue because Justin wanted to go to Game Craze to look and maybe buy some older games (he's a collector). Anyways, a cop pulls me over. I'm like WTF, what did I do this time? Was I speeding? Anywhos, the cop, a chick, asks me for my lisense and registration. As I'm pulling out my ID, she asks me if I knew what I did to be pulled over. I say that I didn't know (although I thought it might've been speeding). She says 'are you kidding? I just put the lights on.' She takes the ID and the registration from me (also mentioning that I forgot to put the little sticker on my plate) and walks away, not telling me what I had done.

About 30 minutes later, she comes back. With two tickets. One for the sticker not being on my plate, the other for not having a seat belt on. At this point, I'm like, waitasec... I call bullshit! I tell her that I had my seat belt on the whole time, and in fact, told both Chrissy and Justin to put their's on before we got going. We try to argue out of the ticket as politely as we can, but no luck.

I hate cops so fucking much... They're so full of crap these days.

-Locke

Anime Reviewing of Spring/Summer 07

2007-10-07T09:44:00.003-05:00

I haven't posted in a good while, but now I have something to post about again. Now, it's a well known fact that I watch way too much anime for my own good. Therefore, I'll talk about some of the anime I've finished recently. I'll try not to spoil too much, but spoilers will happen.

Zero no Tsukaima season 2
A number of people know this: I'm a hopeless romantic at heart. So several scenes in ZnT were fucking awesome for me. However, the majority of the anime has been pure failure. When the animators stuck to the original novels (kidifying when needed >.< ), it was good. When they went in their own direction, it sucked most of the time. The entire Agines arc took way too long. They could've focused more on the war that was going on than on a poorly written subplot that should've only taken maybe 3 episodes at most. Instead, most of the season (which was only 12 episodes) was wasted. However, there were some great moments, or atleast I loved them.
Overall: 7/10

Kaze no Stigma
Okay, this has been somewhat of a guilty pleasure for me. I wish it hadn't, because it ended up being crap. The animation was alright in the beginning but started to fall midway (typical of Gonzo). The story was subpar. And Kazuma's relationship with Ayano seems too forced (although I really did enjoy Kazuma's antics involving her. 'Oh, I spilled some wine on your face *lick*' LOL). All in all, it was pretty shitty and the only reason I kept watching was for those silly cute moments. At least Zero no Tsukaima had more interesting plot to it than this.
Overall: 5/10

Shakugan no Shana movie
So two shitty anime so far, right? Well, let's bring it up. Shakugan no Shana is one of my favorite anime these days, with its second season airing this fall (episode one aired a few days ago, still waiting on the subs). So of course I watched the movie when I got the chance. I originally watched it without subs. I do that sometimes with anime. Later, the subs came out much to my glee. Anywhos, the movie sums up the first 6 episodes of the anime and makes it far better. From what I've read, it follows the original novel much better. And it actually animates more and better fighting when the movie started to diverge a little from the anime (the first half used some animation from the anime itself). In short, I loved the whole damn thing.
Overall: 9/10

Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS
Normally, I hate most mahou shoujo anime. Nanoha has been the one exception thus far. In the first two seasons, they diverged from the norm of the genre and added tones of awesome. So with the 3rd season, I had to check it out.
I was so very disappointed.
On of the problems was that the cast kept growing with each season. With season three, the huge cast was tripled. While most of the cast were only minor characters, even the main cast was too large. The introduction of the Forwards was a large mistake. I wanted to watch the adventures of Nanoha, Fate, and Hayate. Not of a bunch of new kids being trained for like 4 episodes.
The season had its moments of course. Nanoha and Fate sharing that huge bed (insert lesbian jokes here), adding in Vivio, Fate's dual zambers (why couldn't that scene last longer!?!?). Anywhos, while I still have 2 episodes to watch, I doubt that could change my view of this disaster. They just tried to do way too much.
Overall: 6/10

Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann
I've called everything so far (except Shana) shit. However, Gurren Lagann is the exact opposite of shit. It is made of epic and win. It started as the sleeper hit of the spring season. Nobody saw Gainax's new series would be fucking awesome. But it was. From Kamina's huge speeches, to the over the top mecha action, to the constant drill and spiral references, to the ever expanding epicness of the plot, Gurren Lagann has been an enjoyable ride. Just about everyone who watched it will agree: Gurren Lagann is win. Gainax, you guys have topped EVA finally. Good job.
Overall: 11/10 (it's just that fucking epic)

That's it for today peoples. Now to go get some breakfast.
-Locke

Of a Lot of Things...

2007-07-22T20:59:00.001-05:00

I have been called out... Again. So much for that 'post once a week at least' thing.

Alright, so what have I been up to in the past month? Well, a lot of things. Searching for an apartment with Louis, playing games, running my D&D campaign, proposing to Chrissy...

Oh, right, that one. Yeah... I got an announcement to make to the internet. A few people already know, but I'm sure the rest of you certainly don't.

I'm engaged now. Surprising, isn't it?

Allow me to explain as easy as I can. This will take a bit, however.

The part 1: the challenger
So, one of Chrissy's old friends called her up and wanted to hang out. This was a friend that she had once had a crush on years ago, but had no chance at the moment since the guy was going out with someone then. Now, two years later, he's single (but Chrissy isn't). So, after some shenanigins, they hang out and talk a bit.

The Part 2: the Problem
Days later, Chrissy calls me, and she's almost in tears. She told me that she was afraid that she'd have to choose between me and this kid. By the end of the night, she had made up her mind about staying with me, but there was still a little doubt in her mind. And mine. I knew I had to do something. Other than beat the crap of the guy. (It should be noted that Louis and Chapel both favored that option)

The Part 3: Crushing All Challengers with a Proverbial Tau Crisis Suit
The next day, I see Chrissy. We talk a little bit about the situation. She was still in doubt, though less so than the night before. Throughout the day, I had pondered about the action I was about to do. I pulled out a toy ring I had gotten from a quarter machine the night before (when I was out with family and Louis to see his then g/f). I had mentioned about how I had joked about proposing with the toy ring. Chrissy told me to do it - so, I got down on one knee and asked her to marry me. A hug and a kiss later, she asked me if I was serious. A part of me wanted to say it was a joke. Then I took a second to consider it. I had planned to do it anyways, but a few years later. Oh well, might as well move up my schemes and plots...
"Might as well be the real thing."

The kid was crushed when he found out. He had no chance to survive and couldn't make his time.

And when Louis found out that night (we were on our way to see Transformers), damn was he surprised. (Ohbytheway, Transformers rocked)

Of 21st Birthdays

2007-06-13T15:44:00.000-05:00

As of today, I am now 21 years of age. I can now legally buy booze and drink it. I can now go gambling.

Will I do either of that? Not likely, but I think I'll have a couple drinks at most tonight.

Happy birthday to me

-Locke

Of D&D Campaigns

2007-05-23T22:25:00.002-05:00

Okay, so after talking to Dave about the campaign and the idea behind it all, I have come to the conclusion that damn it, I should run it. Therefore, so I don't have to explain it every time I tell somebody new, I shall post the entire concept and hook here, along with any particular rules that I will use (some are pending, haven't looked through everything yet).

Wings of Chaos: Ruined Wind

A silver haired man with blue-tinted glasses sits in a comfortable looking leather chair, a book in hand. He glances up to see his guests. “I see it’s time for a story, isn’t it? Ya know, I just found this one earlier today. My mentor wrote it. It’s a story of one of his later adventures.

“Who is my mentor, you ask? Why he holds the title of ‘Fuujin, the God of Wind’. He is the founder and leader of the Anarchy Cross. He’s a wanderer, and he enjoys writing stories of the adventures he and others have been through. This, is one of them. And this will be today’s story…"

The man opened the book and began to read it out loud. “Dark stormy clouds could be seen off the coast that night. The residents of Waterdeep could easily tell it was going to be the worst storm they had seen in years. But the storm would soon be the least of their worries…

“Oh, sure, it was a bad storm, but what came after it made the horrible weather seem like a child’s playground. The next morning, people awoke to the sight of terrible black obelisks framing a vile fiery portal. Next thing they knew, monsters started to pour out from this portal, and several others littered throughout the city. It was as if the gates to hell itself had opened on their door step. In some cases, that was very literal…

"For myself, however, things were far less pleasant. I didn't get to wake up to that sight. Didn't even get a full night's sleep, even. What I found was red skies. At first, I thought I was looking at the beautiful sunset sky, then looking a bit closer, I realized it was too dark of a red. And the bright pulsing veins in the sky were a good clue to tell me that I wasn't in Faerun any more. Or Kansas, which would've been slightly better than where I ended up.

"It wasn't long before I heard noises of something shuffling about. And that was when I found a rather ugly face only a few inches away from my own face. A combination of reflexes and instinct kicked in as I swung my right arm wildly. The ugly thing jumped away in surprise. If only that moment lasted longer. I would later call these creatures 'scamps', since they looked like tiny, scraggly humans with big, elongated ears and nasty looking claws. The scamp took a lunge for my throat. A rolled over, avoiding its attack, and sprung off my hands to get back onto my feet. Luckily, my sword was at my feet. I kicked it up and grabbed the handle, ready to draw. I focused my senses briefly, searching for that instant to strike. Before the creature could spin around for a second attempt, I drew my blade and cleaved its head right off its neck in a single motion.

"The monster fell limp onto the ground, which I had now noticed was barren dirt with a slight rust color to it. As I looked around my surroundings, the only thought that came to mind was How the fuck did I end up in Hell? Later, I realized that it wasn't Hell that I was in, but a plane I would later identify as Oblivion. I looked around a bit, finding dead mauled townspeople lying around. Maybe fate was on my side that day, however. I found survivors. And they were adventurers, too. Or maybe fate just loves to mess with me..."

_________________

Confused? Allow me to make this into more sense. In short, this campaign will take place in Faerun, the FORGOTTEN REALMS campaign setting. What is going on is that portals to Oblivion have opened all over the place. The party, however, doesn't get the chance to prepare to go into one of the portals, since they start off right inside one.

Yes, I realize that portals to Oblivion was covered in Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion. I'm using that for a reason. And I'm not following that game's plot. After all, somebody else is behind this. Somebody with some very big ambitions.

Now for other important details. This starts off at level 10. Almost all WotC books are allowed, as long as I've seen it and have all the info I need. I intend this to be a good/neutral party, but there can be an evil character or two as long as they're not killing off the party or selling their souls to devils. All PCs and major NPCs will get the following extra goodies: one free regional feat and one skill that can be made into a class skill, regardless of what skills are available to their normal selection. Each character starts with 50,000 gp. More may resources may be given out as I see fit depending on character background and other interesting things.

I intend to use the taint rules presented in the Heroes of Horror book (also found in Unearthed Arcana and Oriental Adventures). I am considering using the Action Point system found in Eberron, as well, but I need to look that through some more.

Comments, suggestions, or questions should be directed to me via comments or AIM (RiotTheStorm). There's more, but since I'm kinda tired, I need to think more and look through more rules.

EDIT: These are the forums I plan to use for the game. Link

-Locke

2007-05-21T15:52:00.000-05:00

I'm going to try to update at least once a week, perferably more often than that. But knowing how I work, I doubt it'll go as planned.

Minor news:
Me and Louis are planning to move out of our respective parent's homes and get our own apartment. This will be easier once I can convince Louis that the apartment is more important than the furniture (Louis was raised rather oddly in this respect). We're looking at a target due day of moving out of September.

Other random news:
I am suffering from a minor cold. A running nose and a sore throat is the worst of it. It is driving me insane, though.

Completely random but more of what I wanted to post about:
Okay, so I've had this idea running circles around my head for a few days now. I've had this idea for a D&D campaign that I'd like to run. Problem is that there are very few people in the area that play the game (outside of the Living Greyhawk people). 2 solutions came to mind. The first would be set up an RP on Gaia Online. Chances of it, I'd use that as my test run of the game. The second solution would be to use a forum that I had made years ago but never used and set up the game as a more free-form styled RP but using D&D as the basis and as the combat rules and god-mod limiter for characters in general. I'll post more of this idea if anyone cares or has any interest whatsoever. (Hint: comments would be nice ^^; )

Well, that should do it for now. See ya next week, or next time I feel like posting, whichever comes first.

-Locke

ACen '07 Report

2007-05-13T14:43:00.000-05:00

Well, I'm finally back. I am tired. I'm running on about 5 hours of sleep. I'm sore all over. I feel like I could pass out at any moment if I wanted to. But I'm going to upload my pics from my camera to teh compy and post about my adventures. So let's get started.

Friday, May 11
Around 11, I get home with Louis in tow. We stand around and talk with my mom for a while and then went to put in the new headlight and turn signal for my car. Around 2 we went to bed.

Saturday, May 12
Got up at 6:20-ish. Showered. Took meds. Gathered all the stuff I wanted to bring with me and put in the car. Woke up Louis around 7. We take off about 15 minutes later. We pick up Chrissy, go get donuts, realize that Chrissy didn't print out the info she needed to get her badge and ran home to print it out. We finally hit the road to Chicago around 8:30.

About 2 hours later, we had arrived at the Hyatte. The short version of the drive was we got lost for about 5 minutes, during which Louis got better directions than Yahoo did. We went inside, got in line for registration, waited for like 20 minutes, then go into the pre-reg line (which had maybe 1 other person in it at the time). We get our badges (there was a mix up so I got only a Saturday badge while Chrissy got a full one, so I had to steal hers later). We head to the dealer's room for the next hour or two. Very little was bought at this time, but Chrissy did try on two corsets. Sometime during this we lost Louis and ended up going to the main building and watching AMV's, which included a decent Haruhi one and one with the Duncan Hills Coffee Jingle from Metaloclypse. There was some more shopping stuffs, some signing of Chrissy's boobs (Hawk and Mookie got to sign one boob while I got the other one to myself), some listening to the Spoony Bards, and some general hanging out.

I took a number of pictures throughout the day. Found cosplayers of Guilty Gear (that surprised me, too), Fate/Stay Night, a Vertech, Dr. McNinja, Solid Snake, and a horde of Dan Hibiki's. I will have a link to the folder in my photobucket for this later.

Eventually, Louis rejoined me and Chrissy and we went to Denny's for dinner. Around 10:30-ish, Chrissy's brother came and picked her up. I went downstairs and played D&D with the most incompetent bunch I've ever seen. Only me and the GM knew what should've been going on the entire time. The rest were either too tired or too crazy to play with much sanity whatsoever. We went through 3 different sorcerers (who all looked the same and had the same abilities/spells/etc) and the fighter became a mutated yup-yup... thing. I got to see in 8-bit vision for a short while, we exploded one of the dead sorc's with a corpse explosion potion (which I ended up throwing into a room of skeletons). My paladin ended up ditching the party once he realized that he couldn't disbelieve the halfling rogue in an attempt to salvage what was left of the group. This was around the time I was getting too tired, so me and Louis went back to the car to crash.

Sunday, May 13
After waking up around 9-ish, me and Louis waited for an hour until we could get into the Dealer's room (it was supposed to be open at 9). We bought what stuff we had left on our list and then headed out. We ended up missing the turn off and taking a somewhat round-about route to get back home. It worked out alright in the end, though.

Loot gained:
3 pins (one of Shakugan no Shana, one of Haruhi, and one of the Spoony Bards)
1 figurine of Shakugan no Shana
1 Apple Geeks T-Shirt
1 Fate/Stay Night pendant
1 Hi-grade Gundam model of Strike Noir
The DVDs for Seasons 3 and 4 of Red vs Blue
And a 3 sword set for $40

Well, I'm out of things to say, so I think I'll leave it at this. It was a lot of fun and as a note for myself next year, I'm so getting a room. Sleeping in the car sucks.

-Locke

Off to ACEN

2007-05-12T06:32:00.000-05:00

I'll keep this short since it's currently 6:33 and I'm planning to leave the house around 7-ish. Anywhos, I will be out for the weekend. Even turning off the computer (gasp!). I'll be at Anime Central for the weekend. If you see a guy wearing a Purdue Anime Club shirt walking around with a red-pink haired girl around him, that might be me. Go ahead and say hi.

I'll be posting more after I recover from the con. Which means more than 4-5 hours of sleep.

-Locke

Umm... I can't think of a title

2007-05-07T16:26:00.000-05:00

Okay, so now that I'm not dealing with a particular emo kid now, nor recovering from a trip down to Purdue, nor dealing with the guilt of hitting a deer (more on that later), I can make a real post.

Anywhos, last weekend (not the one that just past, the one before), I went down to Purdue for the Anime Club's Marathon. A 1 and 1/2 hour drive after leaving my house, I ended up at Cary Quad (the dorms I used to live in and where Chapel resided until finals ended last week). Surprised the shit out of John, who didn't know I was going to be visiting. A long story short that I don't remember most of, I hung out at the Union playing games on my compy and hanging out with peoples.

Silly things that happen include:
-The discussion of a 'rape setting' (along with the comment of "set rape to stun")
-Chapel finding a small portion of my hentai stash on my computer (this search came about when he remembered the challenge that my g/f made long ago to find some hentai on my computer back when she hated the stuff but now sends more to me than I actually have).
-I obtained one of this years PAC shirts, which has all of the PAC officers from this year (which includes me)

I ended up spending the night at Dave's apartment. The next morning I called in sick for work (didn't want to drive another hour and an half and then work 7 hours). The two of us went to the IHOP in town for breakfast, which included jokes about Sunday drivers ("Damn Sunday drivers." "Aren't we one of them right now?" "Shut up."). And then later on I drove home.

I hung out with Chrissy for a while when I got back to Valpo, and on the way home from her place, I hit a deer. I was lucky that I only clipped the poor thing in the ass with the side of my car, but I'm sure it hurt and it certainly hurt my car. I have to replace the right headlight and turn signal now. That's a good $200 down the drain. Atleast my car is still drivable even without those parts and the turn signal still works alright (the cover is what needs to be replaced, along with the frame).

So yeah, that was an eventful weekend. And now, I have posted. I think I'll do some drawing or something soon-ish. Or play Black and White 2 some more. Picked that up last week. It's nice to be god every so often.

-Locke

Of Demanded Updates

2007-05-01T19:03:00.000-05:00

Okay, so I updated. Happy now, Pally?

(more posting to come. Need to go on a murderous rampage against overly angsty friend who wants pity that I don't have.)

-Locke

Of Leaving LiveJournal...

2007-04-18T15:49:00.000-05:00

Okay, so I've officially left LJ. Not like it matters to most people, since I rarely posted there to begin with. However, I would like to welcome all who arrived via the link I gave through my last LJ post. Sorry about the messiness and the constant changes around here - I'm still messing around with the layout to find what I like best.

But regardless - enjoy the insanity. I'll be around for a while...

-Locke

Of Cameras and Friends

2007-04-13T22:25:00.000-05:00

I'm deleting my last post. When I think about it, nobody really needs to know such things. My personal thoughts on the matter don't need to be recorded on the internet. It's his life, not mine, so I'll let him do as he wishes. If you're confused, don't worry - it's nothing you need to bother with.

Anywhos...

I got a new digital camera. No, I'm not going to take myspace pics of myself. I've done that enough with my cell's camera when I got it. It's a nice Polaroid digital camera. Not sure on the model name, but it says i533 on it. Got it for $100. Used to be $20 more, but it went down in price. There was also a pink one that supports breast cancer, but I'd rather not support cancer (lol). And I'm kinda cheap.

While I was out with Chrissy tonight, we bumped into Tim and Renee. There's something to be said about friends who's minds are in the gutter on a regular basis and love making jokes about it. I dunno what should be said, but I'm sure something should be.

There's also something to be said about Fazoli's charging 10 cents a bread stick. I'm sorry, but it's just not worth that much. Maybe 5 cents. Maybe.

Well, enough of that post. I'll see if I can crank out another painting sometime soon-ish. I gotta post in an RP on Gaia soon anyways...
-Locke

Of a Useless Feeling and the Fury of the Wind God

2007-04-06T20:51:00.000-05:00

Two things today, loyal readers. Oh, wait, I don't have any readers. Nevermind.

First is the top image. Allow me to explain this one. My girlfriend, Chrissy, is grounded for her grades. Now, this isn't too unusual, except this semester (or rather trimester since that's how her school works), she's been working her ass off. Yet her parents don't seem to notice this. To make things short and without telling too much of my personal life, she wasn't in the best of moods. Something between anger and sadness. A weird and bad combination. I didn't know what I could do, if anything.

Second thing, not as depressing...

Inspired by a song that Chrissy put on a tape for me, I painted this. A very pissed off Fuujin (black hair version, instead of his normal green). I'll let your imagination take it from there.

-Locke

A painting of cold

2007-04-05T15:48:00.000-05:00

(meant to post this yesterday)
I've been thinking about what I should do with this blog. A part of me wants to make it a painting blog sorta thing. Where I paint what I feel (on my computer) and then post it here instead of on Deviant Art... The more spontanious artwork that I've been doing lately

More painting

2007-04-04T22:37:00.000-05:00

The sky is
something I've always tried to grasp in my art. I'm still failing, but maybe I'm getting closer. I'm not sure...

-Locke

It's amusing how lines can confine a painting. I tried coloring this sketch without using lines to define it. That failed miseribly. So instead I painted over the sketch (in OpenCanvas), but didn't make any dark lines in it. It's kind of interesting to look at. Very basic look, really.

An OpenCanvas Painting of Tetsu

2007-04-04T16:39:00.000-05:00

For some reason, I felt the need to do some arting. So I did. This is what came out. For someone who hasn't done much color work in the past few months, it's not bad.

EDIT 5:20
Whoa... I haven't been able to hear out of my right ear all day. Now it's starting to affect my head and making me dizzy. This isn't fun...

... Can't think of titles right now

2007-04-04T14:47:00.000-05:00

Okey... Hmm... I should put more into this blog, shouldn't I? Alrighty, why not rant about some of my role-playing shenanigans. I wonder if I actually spelled that right...

I've been in several different D&D campaigns, but only 2 truly stand out in my memory (although sillyness from other campaigns still lurk in my head). These campaigns were run by my roommate (or former roommate since we both got kicked out of Purdue), James.

The first one that he ran that I was in was an evil campaign. At the beginning, I was a changling ninja and Dave played a half ghost elf, half Medusa warlock. Trust me, James managed to make that one work. For a little bit, it was just us two. This was because we hadn't met our other friends - Nick, Ben, and Nate. Nick played a human spellthief (he was one of the few non-evil characters in the group), Ben was a fiendish gray dwarven barbarian, and Nate (when he joined much later) was some weird race wizard Voldemort wannabe. It was amusing that the evil party was more-or-less forced to save to world.

It's easy enough to say we were a bunch of insane evil do'ers. The party was mostly chaotic evil. There was more backstabbing in the party than NPCs. After a while, I got bored with my ninja and switched for something far more destructive. A Chaotic Neutral (later evil) half-celestial druid who was the grand son of the god of destruction. There's something to be said about irony in this. I ended up getting a gauntlet that multiplied my damage by a d6. So, it was something along the lines of (1d4 + 7) x 1d6. I could either get shitty damage or massive damage. Everytime I got a major hit with that gauntlet, it reinforced the concept of 'don't fuck with the druid' to the rest of the party. I loved it. It was even funnier when I didn't cast many spells for the party. I just buff'd myself instead. I ended up reasoning that Sorata, my druid, was saving the world because he wanted to destroy it all personally.

Sadly, that campaign ended with the end of the year. The next year we moved onto a new campaign by James. This time we were good. Very good. It was kinda nice to move to a different purpose. I ended up playing a monk in that game. It always amused me in the fact that I was the first to charge into the fight, with little regard to my own safety. However, this campaign ended when both me and James were kicked out of Purdue. Tis a sad thing, since I enjoyed the game greatly.

Anywhos, I think this will do for now. Maybe I shall post more of my misadventures in D&D. Need to find a new campaign around here...

-Locke

The First Post of the Anarchy Cross

2007-04-03T23:32:00.000-05:00

It's been a while since I started a new blog. Before it was LiveJournal. I'm kinda glad I'm moving to better now. There's something about starting a new blog. Something... refreshing. I dunno. Oh, right. I forgot. Allow me to introduce myself:

I am Locke Alexander. Or so I shall call myself that here on this blog. Yes yes, I know it says "Yamazaki Yoshio" over there by the log-in thing-a-ma-jig. Who gives a damn. I am using the name of Locke Alexander for a few different reasons. The first is simple - there's a level of 'you don't know who I actually am' on the internets. I wanna keep that here. You don't need to know my real name. But I shall tell you story behind the name. Simply put, it is the name of one of my favorite role-playing characters, known commonly as Lightning Eye Tetsu. The more complex explaination may come later if I feel like it. Or somebody bugs me enough about it besides my girlfriend.

I am an artist. That avatar over there? I did that. I'll link to my dA later. Yeah, I post my artwork on Deviant Art. What can I say? It's the best place to put it besides a personal website, and I don't want to go through the trouble of coding one. Had to do that before anyways.

I love anime. This is an understatement. a binder filled with CDs of anime (which may be replaced with DVDs in the future if I'm not as lazy as I have been) plus another 20 gigs on my harddrive (and growing) should be plenty proof of my anime fandom.

I love role-playing. I play D&D. I play City of Heroes (/tell @Sorata). I RP on Gaia Online (I keep to a literate RP guild to retain my sanity). I draw my RP characters. I know, I'm pretty lame like that sometimes.

I rant. A lot. If anywhere will be my bitch box, it will be here. I'm leaving LJ in hopes that I'll use this more and that more people will see it. We shall see, won't we? And many times, I rape the English language like it was a damn whore.

I think that'll be enough for one night. I hope you enjoy this blog, or at least be mildly amused by it.

-Locke (aka Yamazaki)