Every morning i get up, and both my cats are at my feet.
They are purring, they are meowing, they are rubbing slowly and intently against my bare legs.
Rocjy'll take nips at my ankles, and Willow will get up on her rear legs, reach for my hands and try to lick my fingers.
And then i feed them mushy food, and all is over. They leave me alone. I start the coffee machine, take a shower (yeah right), eat and/or head to work.
But then i get home, and she's there...
Letting go of a fat, affectionate, intentionate purr.
Half-squinted eyes...
She throws herself on her back, and starts to stretch all four.
Then she might arch her head and try to take a glimpse at me,
or will lick her neck fur-coat, desperate for affection.
And frankly, it's disgusting.
I feel like she's a dirty whore, trying to get all the attention she can get.
You have to understand that we found these cats in the country.
They were stay-away kittens rummaging the farm land in search for sustenance when we found 'em, kit'nap 'em and proceeded to save them from their fleece curse.
So she owes me and my girlfriend her life. She might be trying to express gratitude for the gesture, i don't know.
I just can't communicate with her.
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Madman Comics!
Hello everyone!
So, as you can see from my father's previous blog, we've both been busy to my brother's needs.
Poor little bugger got in a car accident 2 days after his 20th birthday, and apparently if he had been in anything else than the car he was in (Land Rover i think), he could have been cut in half.
So, good job Land Rover!
However, since my bro is stuck in the hospital, I've finally been able to make him read comics.
He's never been interested in them at all, but he really liked the show Heroes.
My first pick for him was Astonishing X-Men, by Joss Whedon. I just finished it, and it was great. I thought... everybody likes X-men, here's a critically acclaimed book, and on top of that, it was written by someone that wrote tv shows.
He thought it was stupid at first, but kept reading, and really liked it at the end. He asked for Volume 2, wich i don't own yet.
I recently just started buying online again, wich i promised myself i would never do again, seeing how i maxed out my credit card buying Elfic Dice and Super-Hero statues...
But then, I discovered Amazon. How can the books be so cheap!
I've since started a crusade, ordering dozens of TPBs and HCs a month, from all companies.
And i discovered this:
Madman Comics.
The dude's from Snapcity, fights with yoyos, slingshots and disc-guns.
He's portrayed in vivid colors, drawn amazingly, and has the innocence of San Goku.
You have to understand... Madman is timeless. I could have been reading this 10 years ago, or i could have discovered this 10 years from now, and I'd still have a crush on him.
There is a certain feelings that settles on my shoulders when I'm reading the comics. Like an ancient Owl telepathicly inducing my brains will all of my most cherised childhood memories that i thought lost forever.
There's a certain honesty, style, innocence permeating from the pages and the vibrant colors that anyone with an open mind can enjoy.
I suggest you get Volume 1, give it a try. I'll never regret it!
So, as you can see from my father's previous blog, we've both been busy to my brother's needs.
Poor little bugger got in a car accident 2 days after his 20th birthday, and apparently if he had been in anything else than the car he was in (Land Rover i think), he could have been cut in half.
So, good job Land Rover!
However, since my bro is stuck in the hospital, I've finally been able to make him read comics.
He's never been interested in them at all, but he really liked the show Heroes.
My first pick for him was Astonishing X-Men, by Joss Whedon. I just finished it, and it was great. I thought... everybody likes X-men, here's a critically acclaimed book, and on top of that, it was written by someone that wrote tv shows.
He thought it was stupid at first, but kept reading, and really liked it at the end. He asked for Volume 2, wich i don't own yet.
I recently just started buying online again, wich i promised myself i would never do again, seeing how i maxed out my credit card buying Elfic Dice and Super-Hero statues...
But then, I discovered Amazon. How can the books be so cheap!
I've since started a crusade, ordering dozens of TPBs and HCs a month, from all companies.
And i discovered this:
Madman Comics.
The dude's from Snapcity, fights with yoyos, slingshots and disc-guns.
He's portrayed in vivid colors, drawn amazingly, and has the innocence of San Goku.
You have to understand... Madman is timeless. I could have been reading this 10 years ago, or i could have discovered this 10 years from now, and I'd still have a crush on him.
There is a certain feelings that settles on my shoulders when I'm reading the comics. Like an ancient Owl telepathicly inducing my brains will all of my most cherised childhood memories that i thought lost forever.
There's a certain honesty, style, innocence permeating from the pages and the vibrant colors that anyone with an open mind can enjoy.
I suggest you get Volume 1, give it a try. I'll never regret it!
Friday, June 12, 2009
Life and evrything
Last week my son (Étienne's brother) had a car accident and even though he had serious injuries it could have been much much worse.
I know it's a cliché but such occasions only reinforce the importance of what is important in life.
It's simple: love your friends, love your family and show them you do.
I know it's a cliché but such occasions only reinforce the importance of what is important in life.
It's simple: love your friends, love your family and show them you do.
Friday, June 5, 2009
The uncertainty of DnD
There's something I really like about DnD, that keeps me coming back for more, both as a DM and a player.
By the title, you have probably guessed... uncertainty. Another important factor would be improvisation.
DnD is the root to all video games, but something that video games will never be able to emulate. The DM, instead of the computer, makes all the difference. Players remain players in both universes.
What i mean is that, a player of video games has a limited options and actions available to him, that might or might not work in his environment, cemented in codes. The fact that a DM, human, is running the game instead of a program, allows for much rule-bending. For exemple:
In one of my games, in our earlier adventures, one of my friend was playing with a Ranger that had 2 light crossbows. Okay, now we know, you can't do that. At the time we didn't know, and it was just so cool. Anyways.
At one point, they are climbing a cliff while running away from a patrol of Lizardmen. The Barbarian climbs quickly, tosses a rope down to the Ranger, who in turn tied it up around his waist. The idea was that the Barbarian would lift the Ranger up while the Ranger covers their back with his crossbows.
Already, this is pretty cool.
Then, eagles who were nesting in the cliffs started to attack the party. At one point the Barbarian dropped the rope. Now this is where D&D really starts to differ from PC games.
The Rogue asks me if he can drop a crossbow to try and get a holding on the cliff with his free hand. Cool idea, so i made him roll a reflex check. Passed.
The rogue then asks me if he can try and catch the falling crossbow with his feet! Even cooler!
DO you get it? DO YOU GET IT?
You can actually convince the DM to change a few factors of the game. And if the DM is willing, well it makes the game even more interesting. Linear adventures are possible in D&D, but it's everything between point A and point B that make it the game that it is.
Now if you excuse me, i have a fighter-based Prestige Class to design. I'll post this here when i do it.
K tnx bye.
By the title, you have probably guessed... uncertainty. Another important factor would be improvisation.
DnD is the root to all video games, but something that video games will never be able to emulate. The DM, instead of the computer, makes all the difference. Players remain players in both universes.
What i mean is that, a player of video games has a limited options and actions available to him, that might or might not work in his environment, cemented in codes. The fact that a DM, human, is running the game instead of a program, allows for much rule-bending. For exemple:
In one of my games, in our earlier adventures, one of my friend was playing with a Ranger that had 2 light crossbows. Okay, now we know, you can't do that. At the time we didn't know, and it was just so cool. Anyways.
At one point, they are climbing a cliff while running away from a patrol of Lizardmen. The Barbarian climbs quickly, tosses a rope down to the Ranger, who in turn tied it up around his waist. The idea was that the Barbarian would lift the Ranger up while the Ranger covers their back with his crossbows.
Already, this is pretty cool.
Then, eagles who were nesting in the cliffs started to attack the party. At one point the Barbarian dropped the rope. Now this is where D&D really starts to differ from PC games.
The Rogue asks me if he can drop a crossbow to try and get a holding on the cliff with his free hand. Cool idea, so i made him roll a reflex check. Passed.
The rogue then asks me if he can try and catch the falling crossbow with his feet! Even cooler!
DO you get it? DO YOU GET IT?
You can actually convince the DM to change a few factors of the game. And if the DM is willing, well it makes the game even more interesting. Linear adventures are possible in D&D, but it's everything between point A and point B that make it the game that it is.
Now if you excuse me, i have a fighter-based Prestige Class to design. I'll post this here when i do it.
K tnx bye.
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Deadpool in Wolverine Origins
Weapon Eleven is NOT Deadpool in Wolverine Origins. They clearly state that the ''Deadpool'' is a project's name, a sort of gene pools to gather all sort of mutant powers, and that Weapon XI is their master weapon, the final project. If they choose to stay true to comics (but they never do), Deadpool will in fact be a dismissed body, a failure, abandoned in the ''deadpool'' facility. An early try. Wolverine is Weapon X. Why? Because he is the 10th attempt at an ultimate weapon. Sabertooth would be a Weapon # also. Alpha Flight maybe also? Who knows? Department H is up to a lot of things in the cold and desolate Canada of Marvel Comics. So quit telling me Deadpool shoots lasers, has diamond swords coming out of his arms, can teleport, cannot talk (?) and has bad tattoos. Deadpool's a fucking lunatic who shoots guns and cuts bullets YES, and in the comics CAN teleport but with the help of a device. End of similarities. And let's hope they disfigure him in his stand-alone movie.
Now that i think of it, i bet they made sure Weapon XI couldn't talk to specify that it can't POSSIBLY be Deadpool. He's known as the ''Merc with a mouth' for a reason.
Nuff said.
Friday, May 29, 2009
GRIDLINKED
Combine a kilometer long dragon made of flesh and circuits and who can travel instantaneously across the universe, intercept any communication between computers and create creatures of flesh for any purpose (and it is a crazy liar);
add a Japanese master who is 400 years old and who has survived Hiroshima;
incorporate a government agent that is so powerful that future historians will argue about his existence;
pour a totally fucked up separatist who wants revenge for the death of his no less fucked up sister;
and why not a few golems and amped up mercenaries.
You have the ingredients of a novel that is interesting and frustrating.
Interesting because the plot is inventive but frustrating because sometimes you wonder what the hell is going on and the end and most deaths (and there are quite a few) are anticlimactic. For example, Mr Crane, a seemingly invicible Golem is destroyed in a figth that takes something like 2 lines.
But Asher's work remains a page turner even if some of the characters survive impossible odds. He has a lot of imagination and his inventions are credible as are most of the protagonists.
A good read
8/10
Friday, May 22, 2009
New Star Trek
So i was sitting in the theaters, in front of an Imax screen, my girlfriend next to me.
I'm not a big fan of Star Trek, but just the fact that my girlfriend was watching this was an achievement in itself.
Opening sequence. A space battle over a planet. The camera pans down to show us the chaos raging. My girlfriend leans towards me an whispers: ''That shot is cool!''
I lean back slowly, and whisper back: ''It's cooler in Star Wars III''
I am of course refering to this:
I rest my back on my chair, satisfied. She looks at me with questions marks in her eyes, and i think: ''Thank you, Star Trek. Now she will watch the episodes with me for sure''.
And that's what it felt like the whole movie. Like they tried to make Star Trek feel like Star Wars.
Like my said friend, however: ''Sorry, no lightsabers. You lose. Bye.''
I'm not a big fan of Star Trek, but just the fact that my girlfriend was watching this was an achievement in itself.
Opening sequence. A space battle over a planet. The camera pans down to show us the chaos raging. My girlfriend leans towards me an whispers: ''That shot is cool!''
I lean back slowly, and whisper back: ''It's cooler in Star Wars III''
I am of course refering to this:
I rest my back on my chair, satisfied. She looks at me with questions marks in her eyes, and i think: ''Thank you, Star Trek. Now she will watch the episodes with me for sure''.
And that's what it felt like the whole movie. Like they tried to make Star Trek feel like Star Wars.
Like my said friend, however: ''Sorry, no lightsabers. You lose. Bye.''
Sunday, May 17, 2009
New City of Heroes expension
Hi all, it's been a while.
Let's jump straight to the point.
I tried City of Villains a few years back, loved it but not enough to pay the monthly fees. So after a trial period, i ditched it.
Now, a few years later, it seems that the game is still being played. And they just released a new expansion pack: The mission architect (say this out loud with a very ominous voice).
This apparently lets you (the player) create missions for the game, adding endless content to the game.
It was also said that in the 24 hours following the release of this mission architect, more content was created by users than what had ever been created by the makers of the game since 2004.
First. The makers of the game are pretty proud to announce this, but i think it makes them sound lazy.
Second. How many really, really bad missions created by weird stupid kids were uploaded? I bet this dude made one:
Granted, i would play his.
And last, and certainly not least:
City of Heroes has achieved everyone's dream: in releasing the mission architect pack, they actually succeeded in making people pay a monthly fee, on top of paying for the mission architect pack, to literally do their job for them.
Now folks, this is a pretty spectacular feat. If someone would be willing to pay me to do my telemarketing job for me, i'd be in heaven fornicating in clouds.
Because, you see, you might think that paying a monthly fee will ensure that programmers are working tirelessly to produce more in-game content, missions, items, territories. You know, like WoW. But no! In CoH, they were working on way for you to be able to do this stuff, so they wouldn't have to!
Amazing!
Who's stupid enough to do this? To actually pay a monthly fee to be able to add in-game content regularly, what the monthly fee should be covering in the first place?
Bewildering i tell you.
Off to bed. I'm going camping and woodsballing with 10 buddies for the rest of the weekend. Sure beats going through a mission created by a weird lonely 12-year-old where you probably have to... go in the sewers to... kill demons with bad gramar. I don't know. I don't care.
Let's jump straight to the point.
I tried City of Villains a few years back, loved it but not enough to pay the monthly fees. So after a trial period, i ditched it.
Now, a few years later, it seems that the game is still being played. And they just released a new expansion pack: The mission architect (say this out loud with a very ominous voice).
This apparently lets you (the player) create missions for the game, adding endless content to the game.
It was also said that in the 24 hours following the release of this mission architect, more content was created by users than what had ever been created by the makers of the game since 2004.
First. The makers of the game are pretty proud to announce this, but i think it makes them sound lazy.
Second. How many really, really bad missions created by weird stupid kids were uploaded? I bet this dude made one:
Granted, i would play his.
And last, and certainly not least:
City of Heroes has achieved everyone's dream: in releasing the mission architect pack, they actually succeeded in making people pay a monthly fee, on top of paying for the mission architect pack, to literally do their job for them.
Now folks, this is a pretty spectacular feat. If someone would be willing to pay me to do my telemarketing job for me, i'd be in heaven fornicating in clouds.
Because, you see, you might think that paying a monthly fee will ensure that programmers are working tirelessly to produce more in-game content, missions, items, territories. You know, like WoW. But no! In CoH, they were working on way for you to be able to do this stuff, so they wouldn't have to!
Amazing!
Who's stupid enough to do this? To actually pay a monthly fee to be able to add in-game content regularly, what the monthly fee should be covering in the first place?
Bewildering i tell you.
Off to bed. I'm going camping and woodsballing with 10 buddies for the rest of the weekend. Sure beats going through a mission created by a weird lonely 12-year-old where you probably have to... go in the sewers to... kill demons with bad gramar. I don't know. I don't care.
Friday, May 1, 2009
DARK YOU SAY????
holy macaroni,
I thought that Scar Night was a dark novel, with vampire angels, poisoners and assassins.
That was NOTHING.
Iron Angel the second book of the trilogy takes place mostly in Hell, but an Hell so terrifying with such terrible beasts and gods that it's a wonder I was able to sleep at night.
Imagine a dark red maze at the bottom of a pit. The maze is made of alleys and houses, alleys and houses made of human souls. Alleys and houses that bleed when attacked, feeding demons and machines that run on blood.
Blood flows in canals and kilometer long blind worms made of demons desire nothing but to devour souls. But the worms can see, the demons pass along the worm the thousand eyes of a slain god that was killed by Menoa a thousand years ago. And those are mild compared to the 500 hundred feet high fighting machines
Our poor friend Dill, the clumsy angel of the first book is caught by the bad guys and it does not go well for him or the human race for that matter.
And just when you think that there is a small ray of hope, the end leaves the reader faced with a terrible vision.
Dark, dark, dark, dark. but a great read, a real page turner. Can't wait for the next one which is supposed to be out at the end of summer. Darn!
9/10
I thought that Scar Night was a dark novel, with vampire angels, poisoners and assassins.
That was NOTHING.
Iron Angel the second book of the trilogy takes place mostly in Hell, but an Hell so terrifying with such terrible beasts and gods that it's a wonder I was able to sleep at night.
Imagine a dark red maze at the bottom of a pit. The maze is made of alleys and houses, alleys and houses made of human souls. Alleys and houses that bleed when attacked, feeding demons and machines that run on blood.
Blood flows in canals and kilometer long blind worms made of demons desire nothing but to devour souls. But the worms can see, the demons pass along the worm the thousand eyes of a slain god that was killed by Menoa a thousand years ago. And those are mild compared to the 500 hundred feet high fighting machines
Our poor friend Dill, the clumsy angel of the first book is caught by the bad guys and it does not go well for him or the human race for that matter.
And just when you think that there is a small ray of hope, the end leaves the reader faced with a terrible vision.
Dark, dark, dark, dark. but a great read, a real page turner. Can't wait for the next one which is supposed to be out at the end of summer. Darn!
9/10
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Long time no see!
I know, i've been away. To all 3 people a day that visit this page an average of 2 minutes, i'm sorry. I've just been pretty busy.
It's a lie. I've just accumulated so many geeky hobbies recently that it has been impossible to keep up with all of them.
For exemple: My Savage Sword of Conan tpb sits in my bookshelf, half-finished.
I've read only a chapter of the last Dragonlance novel i bought.
I'm 3 games away from entering the playoffs with my NHL 2009 team.
I'm still at stage one of designing my own collectible card game.
The list goes on.
But there's a good reason.
At 25, i started playing D&D, and i love it.
I've been playing Magic for a couple of years now, slowly enticing all my friends to start playing with me, making them spend hundreds of dollars on the cardboard crack.
They all became quickly obsessed, and a weekly game meeting was the norm. Everybody knew the rules, or thought they did.
I speak in the past term, because i retired from the TCG around 6 months ago.
I couldn't take it anymore. I tried. I really did. I sat through what seemed like impossibly long games, made only longer by all the arguing and debating of the rules, fueled by the fact that every single rule in the game can be broken by one card or another.
So here we were, in my friend's new appartment, drinking booze, watching the hockey game and playing magic. I was sitting at the table quietly, sipping on rum n coke, watching the game unfold. To my right, the monster i created: a lawyer, playing magic. To my left, another monster: the sports dude who simply cannot wrap his head around the fact that everybody's different. Both drunk.
And I sit there, as they once again argue about: does a creature tap before or after the attack phase. Can you regenerate a creature you suicided. How can a Counterspell make sense when you use the stack: if the counterspell resolves before the spell, what does it counter?
It's finally my turn. I've been sitting there quietly for 5 minutes. Count 60 seconds in your head. It's pretty long, right? Do it again, 4 more times. My turn. I have a few options available. I could attack either player, i could boost a creature, i could just summon something. After about 6 seconds of mental debate, I chose the later, for no consequences from either sides.
After i put my creature on the table, i announce that my turn is over. The jock turns to me and says with some aggressivity: that's it?
At this point, i knew i was never going to play again. I finished the game not really doing anything great, since i was just testing a new deck, playing against guys that always use the same one. The guys thought it was drunk talk. I haven't played since.
And so i was left with an empty black hole in my life. All the hours that i spent looking at cards online, talking startegy in forums, building, deconstructing, analysing and testing my decks were now empty and scary hours of lifetime that i could use to do anything else. Like, for instance, concentrating on my finances, looking to go back to school, take a walk outside.
So you understand that i had to look for a new geeky obsession to fill my life, and fast!
Now, what is as time-consuming, nerd-associated and geek-points-awarding as Magic: The Gathering? Dungeons and Dragons, without a doubt!
And so my friends, this is why i haven't been posting a lot. Between rules clarification, book reading, character creating, adventure-writing, map-drawing, scenario-contemplating, game night organisation, and geek-recruiting, i don't have that much time left.
I still read comics, play NHL 09, play real hockey - Ice and Ball - spend time with my girlfriend, get drunk with my friends, workout. So, sorry to say, but the blog is kinda left back a little.
Mind you, whenever something grabs my attention, it'll end up here. Or if people actually start asking for more stuff hehe!
G'day
It's a lie. I've just accumulated so many geeky hobbies recently that it has been impossible to keep up with all of them.
For exemple: My Savage Sword of Conan tpb sits in my bookshelf, half-finished.
I've read only a chapter of the last Dragonlance novel i bought.
I'm 3 games away from entering the playoffs with my NHL 2009 team.
I'm still at stage one of designing my own collectible card game.
The list goes on.
But there's a good reason.
At 25, i started playing D&D, and i love it.
I've been playing Magic for a couple of years now, slowly enticing all my friends to start playing with me, making them spend hundreds of dollars on the cardboard crack.
They all became quickly obsessed, and a weekly game meeting was the norm. Everybody knew the rules, or thought they did.
I speak in the past term, because i retired from the TCG around 6 months ago.
I couldn't take it anymore. I tried. I really did. I sat through what seemed like impossibly long games, made only longer by all the arguing and debating of the rules, fueled by the fact that every single rule in the game can be broken by one card or another.
So here we were, in my friend's new appartment, drinking booze, watching the hockey game and playing magic. I was sitting at the table quietly, sipping on rum n coke, watching the game unfold. To my right, the monster i created: a lawyer, playing magic. To my left, another monster: the sports dude who simply cannot wrap his head around the fact that everybody's different. Both drunk.
And I sit there, as they once again argue about: does a creature tap before or after the attack phase. Can you regenerate a creature you suicided. How can a Counterspell make sense when you use the stack: if the counterspell resolves before the spell, what does it counter?
It's finally my turn. I've been sitting there quietly for 5 minutes. Count 60 seconds in your head. It's pretty long, right? Do it again, 4 more times. My turn. I have a few options available. I could attack either player, i could boost a creature, i could just summon something. After about 6 seconds of mental debate, I chose the later, for no consequences from either sides.
After i put my creature on the table, i announce that my turn is over. The jock turns to me and says with some aggressivity: that's it?
At this point, i knew i was never going to play again. I finished the game not really doing anything great, since i was just testing a new deck, playing against guys that always use the same one. The guys thought it was drunk talk. I haven't played since.
And so i was left with an empty black hole in my life. All the hours that i spent looking at cards online, talking startegy in forums, building, deconstructing, analysing and testing my decks were now empty and scary hours of lifetime that i could use to do anything else. Like, for instance, concentrating on my finances, looking to go back to school, take a walk outside.
So you understand that i had to look for a new geeky obsession to fill my life, and fast!
Now, what is as time-consuming, nerd-associated and geek-points-awarding as Magic: The Gathering? Dungeons and Dragons, without a doubt!
And so my friends, this is why i haven't been posting a lot. Between rules clarification, book reading, character creating, adventure-writing, map-drawing, scenario-contemplating, game night organisation, and geek-recruiting, i don't have that much time left.
I still read comics, play NHL 09, play real hockey - Ice and Ball - spend time with my girlfriend, get drunk with my friends, workout. So, sorry to say, but the blog is kinda left back a little.
Mind you, whenever something grabs my attention, it'll end up here. Or if people actually start asking for more stuff hehe!
G'day
Thursday, April 16, 2009
scar night
DO YOU LIKE DARK NOVELS?
If so you will be served by this book (the first of a trilogy) by Alan Campbell.
It is set in a city that is held by chains over a chasm where demons and gods roam.
If you have read China Mieville, you will probably find that the city and its inhabitants will remind you of New Corbuzon.
Cambell describes a world where a 3000 year old angel has to drink blood on scar night to survive. Why scar night? Because when she drinks blood she dies, resuscitates, sees what she has just done, stabs herself, creating new scars. It starts every month or so when a black moon rises.
A world where an young angel falls in love with the assassin sent to train him, where sould are sent to hell and where poisoners seek revenge.
Where priests are afraid that their god is building an army of the dead to climb up the chasm to claim more souls.
Where some humans have found the way to immortality only to be cut, have their bones taken out and be buried in the desert.
Etc, etc, etc.
I am in the middle of the second book which is even darker and I highly recommend the series
9/10
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
to crush the moon
Bizarrely the last book of the Queendom of Sol series reminds me a bit of the last book in the Lord of the Rings series. It also does remind me of the end of the Foundation series.
Lord of the Rings because at the end the remaining heroes go on a sort of quest across mountain ranges, through impossible weather, and survive against all odds; and Foundation because in a robot resides the key to the situation at hand (in this case the end of the human race).
Of course there are no elves or hobbits in Crushing the Moon (thank god!), and the robots are malevolent (they overrode the asimovian conditions), not benevolent like Daneel, but the whole ending had a sense of déjà vu, augmented by the fact that there are 2 endings, à la Lord of the Rings (who has like 46)
BUT the book reads very well and the story is very interesting: we are in the final stages of the war between house servants and the last humans, who live on the crushed moon and are back to being mortal.
Old king Bruno (about 3000 years old) is brought to the rescue by his son’s best friend (or to be more precise by the last remaining copy of the best firend of at least one of the copies of his son) in order to find a solution to the war and save what’s left of the human race.
We also learn why and how the earth was destroyed (Murdered Earth as it is called) and what happened of the colonies, all well written and based on possible science.
All in all a very good ending to a pretty good series:
8/10
Lord of the Rings because at the end the remaining heroes go on a sort of quest across mountain ranges, through impossible weather, and survive against all odds; and Foundation because in a robot resides the key to the situation at hand (in this case the end of the human race).
Of course there are no elves or hobbits in Crushing the Moon (thank god!), and the robots are malevolent (they overrode the asimovian conditions), not benevolent like Daneel, but the whole ending had a sense of déjà vu, augmented by the fact that there are 2 endings, à la Lord of the Rings (who has like 46)
BUT the book reads very well and the story is very interesting: we are in the final stages of the war between house servants and the last humans, who live on the crushed moon and are back to being mortal.
Old king Bruno (about 3000 years old) is brought to the rescue by his son’s best friend (or to be more precise by the last remaining copy of the best firend of at least one of the copies of his son) in order to find a solution to the war and save what’s left of the human race.
We also learn why and how the earth was destroyed (Murdered Earth as it is called) and what happened of the colonies, all well written and based on possible science.
All in all a very good ending to a pretty good series:
8/10
Sunday, March 15, 2009
My first ever D&D game
So.
The 4th edition came out, and with it came a chance to buy all the 3.5 books for cheap! I was able to get the 4 main books for 20$, pretty good considering that when they came out years ago, each one of them was 45$.
My girlfriend has been out of the country for the last 2 weeks, plenty of time for me to read the books and learn to play. But since i'm lazy i didn't completely read 'em, just the essentials to have fun.
And in between phone calls at work, i started designing my first adventure. A cool little story with a plot and a twist.
Then all my friends pretty much said they wanted to play evil.
So the workload got a little bigger. Creating a new adventure and a bunch of monster races was fun though, so it didn't feel too much like work hehehe.
The night before, people came over and created their characters, a process than can take up to several hours, especially for a first player. I was very surprised at the amount of people that showed up for the game, since D&D is the ultimate geek step!
To sum up the characters, and their handler:
I was the DM, so no characters or NPCs here.
My first friend, a lawyer in real life and the one that read all the combat rules for me, created a centaur ranger, and created a skill (Read the Stars) that only he can use. Basically, once a night if he can see the stars, he roles a 1D6. On a 1, all the party has -1 on saving throws the next day, but a 6 gives them +1 on all!
He became the leader since he had more charisma.
Second friend, a telemarketing dude who enjoys sci-fi and fantasy, was playing a Half-Demon Warlock. He's really the head of the party, thinking about good courses of action.
Third friend, a guy who always wanted to play so he could be a ninja, made a Human Rogue with skills in acrobatics and intimidate more than lockpicking or anything. Driven by mischief, he enjoys putting the party in difficult spots and trying acrobatic jumps to show off.
Fourth friend, a firefighter and amazing hockey player, was a Half-Vampire Fighter. He was the fearless fighter, often in difficult spots but always pulling through.
Fifth friend, a sports apparel salesman, was playing an Elf Rogue. Archer and lockpicker, he enjoyed doing stuff that a DM does not foresee.
The adventure went as follows: The group had been front-liners for the army of a rampaging Orc War-Lord, pillaging the human lands for decades now. Growing tired of little games, he hand-picks our ''heroes'' to become his private strike team. Their mission: To infiltrate a Lord's mansion and steal the Horn of Fog possessed by the human. This will give the Orcs an advantage in taking castles, hiding from the archers in the fog. The Warlord equips the team with weapons and adventuring tools, and tells them they can take all the loot they want. A 50 gold piece bonus is waiting for them if they bring back the head of their enemies. Those who don't will face 10 whips.
The funnest part of the adventure was right at the beginning, a complet surprise to me, the DM.
The group had to get on a raft and travel down a river until they could find a proper place to land. I put a Balance check of 10 to not fall in the water when you get on the raft, and a Swim check of 10 in the water. I also had put a Squid in the river if someone would fall. I didn't think much of it, with the DC being only 10.
Well, our Centaur leader gets on the raft just fine, along with the Warlock. The Fighter on the other hand, slips on the wet wood that makes the raft, and falls in the water! The Squid grabbed him right away, and started squeezing.
Seeing the fighter didn't come back up, the Rogue decides to throw his rope in the water for the fighter. No time to take off the Grappling Hook. A Dex check makes the throw perfect, and the Fighter was able to grab the rope. A strenght check from the Rogue and the Centaur who was helping him had them pull the Fighter back on the raft, along with the squid. Everybody misses their shot at the squid, except the Elven Rogue who hits the monster right in the head, almost killing him.
Memorable moment: The human rogue is tired of holding the rope. He tries to intimidate the elven rogue next to him into holding the rogue. The check fails. The human simply lets go of the rope, losing it in the process! Good laughs there. '' Take the rope! No. Allright, too bad! ''
The Centaur decides to use his natural weapon (Hoof, 1D4) to attack the squid. He misses critically, falls back down heavily on the raft. Balance check for everyone. Everyone falls in the water!
The Fighter decides to bite the squid's tentacle, who releases its grip after squeezing 1 HP out of him. He swims back to the surface. A ink cloud in the water signals to the party that the monster has fled. The Centaur came close to drowning, but after a short while everybody was back on board.
They finally found a good spot to land. The human rogue felt he had to redeem himself in the eyes of the elf, and attemps to front-flip out of the raft and on dry land. He fails miserably, landing right on his ass, while everyone started laughing. He tried to intimidate everyone into silence, wich didn't work.
After that, they started to follow a trail in the forest. Unknown to them, that was actually a trail for wolves! The Rogue was walking in the back, and was able to hear a pair of the animals before they were caught flat-footed. A failed check to handle the animals had one of the wolves jump at his neck, almost killing him in one blow!
Rogues went to the woods, trying to get ranged sneak attacks, while the fighter started doing his thing.
Memorable moments: the human was caught behind the centaur and could not get a clear shot. He decides to attemp to jump on the centaur's back, and then leap to the wolves. He miserably fails his jump check, jumps too low, and hits the horse ass hard! Good laughs there too.
The wolves had 2 of the villains almost dead, and so the party decided to take 24 hours and have the centaur heal them. The Fighter went exploring by himself. While he was gone, the human robbed the warlock, who had collected wolf teeth. He took the teeth and threw them in the woods, and ran to where he heard some noise. Turns out the fighter had found an old shack, where a zombie was sleeping. The fighter single-handedly killed the zombie, and the stench of the rotten corpse had the human take a fortitude check. Yup, failed again!
Memorable moment: the human is vomiting because of the stench, while the Fighter cuts the head off the monster. The head rolls to the human's feet, only to have him throw up again. Haha!
After that, the group re-joined. After an hour's walk, they arrived at a village in a clearing. The village looked abandoned. While the party was deciding about how to loot all the houses, the human left by himself and entered a house. Pitch-black, he wasn't able to see a giant spider, but laid his hand on it, revealing the insect as big as a cat!
The other players were actually contemplating burning him alive in the house, but instead chose to explore another house. 2 spiders as big as men attacked them, almost killing the centaur and the fighter with their poison. The centaur was still able to kill both of them however.
The human had run out of the house, and the warlock lit a torch and burned the first house with a bunch of spiders in them. The centaur then proceeded to burn all the houses in the village.
Memorable moment: the fighter is almost dead. The centaur rushes in the house to save him, trying to push the spider away, only to be himself poisoned hehe.
All in all, everyone had tons of fun, can't wait for the rest of the adventure!
The 4th edition came out, and with it came a chance to buy all the 3.5 books for cheap! I was able to get the 4 main books for 20$, pretty good considering that when they came out years ago, each one of them was 45$.
My girlfriend has been out of the country for the last 2 weeks, plenty of time for me to read the books and learn to play. But since i'm lazy i didn't completely read 'em, just the essentials to have fun.
And in between phone calls at work, i started designing my first adventure. A cool little story with a plot and a twist.
Then all my friends pretty much said they wanted to play evil.
So the workload got a little bigger. Creating a new adventure and a bunch of monster races was fun though, so it didn't feel too much like work hehehe.
The night before, people came over and created their characters, a process than can take up to several hours, especially for a first player. I was very surprised at the amount of people that showed up for the game, since D&D is the ultimate geek step!
To sum up the characters, and their handler:
I was the DM, so no characters or NPCs here.
My first friend, a lawyer in real life and the one that read all the combat rules for me, created a centaur ranger, and created a skill (Read the Stars) that only he can use. Basically, once a night if he can see the stars, he roles a 1D6. On a 1, all the party has -1 on saving throws the next day, but a 6 gives them +1 on all!
He became the leader since he had more charisma.
Second friend, a telemarketing dude who enjoys sci-fi and fantasy, was playing a Half-Demon Warlock. He's really the head of the party, thinking about good courses of action.
Third friend, a guy who always wanted to play so he could be a ninja, made a Human Rogue with skills in acrobatics and intimidate more than lockpicking or anything. Driven by mischief, he enjoys putting the party in difficult spots and trying acrobatic jumps to show off.
Fourth friend, a firefighter and amazing hockey player, was a Half-Vampire Fighter. He was the fearless fighter, often in difficult spots but always pulling through.
Fifth friend, a sports apparel salesman, was playing an Elf Rogue. Archer and lockpicker, he enjoyed doing stuff that a DM does not foresee.
The adventure went as follows: The group had been front-liners for the army of a rampaging Orc War-Lord, pillaging the human lands for decades now. Growing tired of little games, he hand-picks our ''heroes'' to become his private strike team. Their mission: To infiltrate a Lord's mansion and steal the Horn of Fog possessed by the human. This will give the Orcs an advantage in taking castles, hiding from the archers in the fog. The Warlord equips the team with weapons and adventuring tools, and tells them they can take all the loot they want. A 50 gold piece bonus is waiting for them if they bring back the head of their enemies. Those who don't will face 10 whips.
The funnest part of the adventure was right at the beginning, a complet surprise to me, the DM.
The group had to get on a raft and travel down a river until they could find a proper place to land. I put a Balance check of 10 to not fall in the water when you get on the raft, and a Swim check of 10 in the water. I also had put a Squid in the river if someone would fall. I didn't think much of it, with the DC being only 10.
Well, our Centaur leader gets on the raft just fine, along with the Warlock. The Fighter on the other hand, slips on the wet wood that makes the raft, and falls in the water! The Squid grabbed him right away, and started squeezing.
Seeing the fighter didn't come back up, the Rogue decides to throw his rope in the water for the fighter. No time to take off the Grappling Hook. A Dex check makes the throw perfect, and the Fighter was able to grab the rope. A strenght check from the Rogue and the Centaur who was helping him had them pull the Fighter back on the raft, along with the squid. Everybody misses their shot at the squid, except the Elven Rogue who hits the monster right in the head, almost killing him.
Memorable moment: The human rogue is tired of holding the rope. He tries to intimidate the elven rogue next to him into holding the rogue. The check fails. The human simply lets go of the rope, losing it in the process! Good laughs there. '' Take the rope! No. Allright, too bad! ''
The Centaur decides to use his natural weapon (Hoof, 1D4) to attack the squid. He misses critically, falls back down heavily on the raft. Balance check for everyone. Everyone falls in the water!
The Fighter decides to bite the squid's tentacle, who releases its grip after squeezing 1 HP out of him. He swims back to the surface. A ink cloud in the water signals to the party that the monster has fled. The Centaur came close to drowning, but after a short while everybody was back on board.
They finally found a good spot to land. The human rogue felt he had to redeem himself in the eyes of the elf, and attemps to front-flip out of the raft and on dry land. He fails miserably, landing right on his ass, while everyone started laughing. He tried to intimidate everyone into silence, wich didn't work.
After that, they started to follow a trail in the forest. Unknown to them, that was actually a trail for wolves! The Rogue was walking in the back, and was able to hear a pair of the animals before they were caught flat-footed. A failed check to handle the animals had one of the wolves jump at his neck, almost killing him in one blow!
Rogues went to the woods, trying to get ranged sneak attacks, while the fighter started doing his thing.
Memorable moments: the human was caught behind the centaur and could not get a clear shot. He decides to attemp to jump on the centaur's back, and then leap to the wolves. He miserably fails his jump check, jumps too low, and hits the horse ass hard! Good laughs there too.
The wolves had 2 of the villains almost dead, and so the party decided to take 24 hours and have the centaur heal them. The Fighter went exploring by himself. While he was gone, the human robbed the warlock, who had collected wolf teeth. He took the teeth and threw them in the woods, and ran to where he heard some noise. Turns out the fighter had found an old shack, where a zombie was sleeping. The fighter single-handedly killed the zombie, and the stench of the rotten corpse had the human take a fortitude check. Yup, failed again!
Memorable moment: the human is vomiting because of the stench, while the Fighter cuts the head off the monster. The head rolls to the human's feet, only to have him throw up again. Haha!
After that, the group re-joined. After an hour's walk, they arrived at a village in a clearing. The village looked abandoned. While the party was deciding about how to loot all the houses, the human left by himself and entered a house. Pitch-black, he wasn't able to see a giant spider, but laid his hand on it, revealing the insect as big as a cat!
The other players were actually contemplating burning him alive in the house, but instead chose to explore another house. 2 spiders as big as men attacked them, almost killing the centaur and the fighter with their poison. The centaur was still able to kill both of them however.
The human had run out of the house, and the warlock lit a torch and burned the first house with a bunch of spiders in them. The centaur then proceeded to burn all the houses in the village.
Memorable moment: the fighter is almost dead. The centaur rushes in the house to save him, trying to push the spider away, only to be himself poisoned hehe.
All in all, everyone had tons of fun, can't wait for the rest of the adventure!
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Weird
In my quest to find D&D material to prepare for my first ever real game, and i stumbled upon this weird piece of fiction.
First thinking it was a humourous comic, i quickly realised it was a serious piece, put together by our nice little christian friends.
Enjoy!
http://www.chick.com/reading/tracts/0046/0046_01.asp
First thinking it was a humourous comic, i quickly realised it was a serious piece, put together by our nice little christian friends.
Enjoy!
http://www.chick.com/reading/tracts/0046/0046_01.asp
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Lost In Transmission
I just finished book 2 of the Collapsium series by Wil McCarthy
As expected it is much better than the previous book, The Collapsium.
We are once again in the middle of immorbids who have to colonize a planet because they once were bad kids.
But things are REALLY not going as planned.
The economy is breaking down, some people have DIED, and there is almost no hope for the future (of course there has to be SOME hope because there is a third book in the series).
At the same time there is prologue and an epilogue where we see glimpes of a war against home aplliances.
This book is a real page turner, a lot of things happen and most of them come as a surprise.
Of course there is the usual hard science not always easy to understand: "(...) even impervium breaks down at thirty megawats per square meter (...) a fraction of a fraction of that energy slips in between the pseudoatoms and the heat kicks the electrons right out of their quantum wells. the whole thing reverts to sillicon (...)" but McCarthy is showing off far less often than he did in the 2 previous books I've read.
The main characters are still there, bascal (now a king), xmary and conrad and there are very funny moments such as when the one-hour old princess tries to seduce conrad (yes she is one-hour old, as births are quite special on the planet Sorrow ... hint: a lot of kids are named Mary Faxborne).
A fun read: 8/10
PS Why the hell do they create such stupid covers ????? I look like a dumbass every time someone picks up a book on my desk
As expected it is much better than the previous book, The Collapsium.
We are once again in the middle of immorbids who have to colonize a planet because they once were bad kids.
But things are REALLY not going as planned.
The economy is breaking down, some people have DIED, and there is almost no hope for the future (of course there has to be SOME hope because there is a third book in the series).
At the same time there is prologue and an epilogue where we see glimpes of a war against home aplliances.
This book is a real page turner, a lot of things happen and most of them come as a surprise.
Of course there is the usual hard science not always easy to understand: "(...) even impervium breaks down at thirty megawats per square meter (...) a fraction of a fraction of that energy slips in between the pseudoatoms and the heat kicks the electrons right out of their quantum wells. the whole thing reverts to sillicon (...)" but McCarthy is showing off far less often than he did in the 2 previous books I've read.
The main characters are still there, bascal (now a king), xmary and conrad and there are very funny moments such as when the one-hour old princess tries to seduce conrad (yes she is one-hour old, as births are quite special on the planet Sorrow ... hint: a lot of kids are named Mary Faxborne).
A fun read: 8/10
PS Why the hell do they create such stupid covers ????? I look like a dumbass every time someone picks up a book on my desk
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
The life of Regar the Ruthless
Regar the Ruthless is an old man, for its time period. The medieval times were dangerous, and gray hair was seldom seen. Regar had long and white hair, a white beard, eyebrows that showed both determination, strenght of character, but also a little sadness from deeds done in the past.
There are no accounts of Regar's youth, of how he landed in Calradia, or of how he earned the acronym ''Ruthless''. The first sightings of this historical character were registered in the land of the Nords, where he, alone, approached many villages, recruiting individuals. Promesses of loot, battles, glory, travelling, rewards were made to the men fit to fight. A few farmers, bored young men and villagers with nothing to lose, chose to follow him.
The Ruthless characteristic of Regar soon became apparent. When his group grew in size, so did his aggressivity. At first happy with fighting looters and bandits, he then started looting villages, often right after asking the people of that village if they wanted to join him! Some saw it as the first trial of their journey with Regar... to cut down your own wife and steal your brother's riches.
The travels of this group took them everywhere around Calradia, from the snowy steps of mountains to the nordic seaside. Trading and looting seemed to be the way Regar made his fortune, slowly. He started recruiting experienced troops and individuals in taverns of many towns, until he was finally captured by an army of Nords, happy to bring his pillaging rampage to a stop. Regar however, escaped a few days later, only to be recaptured right away. His fighting spirit still intact and a testimony to his survival instincts, Regard escaped from the Nords' claws numerous times in the following days, until he could reach the safety of Vaegirs lands.
His renown got him a request from a Vaegir lord: to follow, with his personal army, the army of the Lord and join in the sieges of many keeps, wich Regar happily did. He played an instrumental role in many of these battles, one time almost taking over the keep in a single wave of pure aggressivity.
And this is where Regar stands, for now. Happy to be of service to the lord, wich gives him plenty of missions and shows him plenty of action over enemy walls and fields.
Patiently bidding his time, proving his worth to the lord, until he can finally prove his allegiance and obtain his own little piece of land to defend.
He was asked many times to do deeds that would result in declarations of war from the Khergits. However, he has refused to partake in those actions. Not for the sake of peace, but because he loves to recruit Khergits in his group. With time and experience, they can become dangerous horse archers, essential to his cavalry-heavy army.
He has started looting and attacking Swadians also, when times are hard or when he needs money. Adept at trading and training, Regar is a seasoned traveler and war-monger. Much has yet to be discovered about the history of this timely individual from our archeologists, especially about the rest of his life.
A little is known about his battle skills, however. It seems Regar preffered to fight by his men's side, very rarely not joining them in battle. Favoring a fast, unarmored horse, a jousting pole for taking down the enemy cavalry, he rides at the helm of his formation. He was also deemed very dangerous with his Halberd. One of his favorite plans of actions was to select a hill, post his archers and footmen on top, and sneak behind enemy lines with his cavalry to exercise a pre-emptive strike against unlucky archers and soldiers in the back of the line. One swoop of his blade was often enough to cut off a man's head.
He would then return to his designated hill to come to the aid of this fellow men against cavalry, slowed down by the ascension. Always keeping in movement, he would cut through archers and crossbowmen when they came into shooting range of his foot soldiers.
He was also know to carry a beautifully adorned metal shield and a morningstar for 1 on 1 fights. He would give the honor of a dual to the last survivor of an army, stepping down from his trusty steed to deliver the final blow, cracking the head of the remaining individual.
His mace was also used to knock soldiers unconscious instead of killing them, for the sake of taking them prisoner, later selling them into slavery.
He proved his bravery many times over during sieges, climbing over a keep wall, only to face down a dozen enemies with his shield. He would charge at archers with his shield high and bring them down with his morningstar. Known to fight up to 3 men at a time, he was also an accomplished archer. He is seldom seen taking down an enemy horseman's mount with a bow when the coward would not give up and was hard to catch, and then delivering the final blow from his horse.
-The Calradia vault of artifacts and history.
There are no accounts of Regar's youth, of how he landed in Calradia, or of how he earned the acronym ''Ruthless''. The first sightings of this historical character were registered in the land of the Nords, where he, alone, approached many villages, recruiting individuals. Promesses of loot, battles, glory, travelling, rewards were made to the men fit to fight. A few farmers, bored young men and villagers with nothing to lose, chose to follow him.
The Ruthless characteristic of Regar soon became apparent. When his group grew in size, so did his aggressivity. At first happy with fighting looters and bandits, he then started looting villages, often right after asking the people of that village if they wanted to join him! Some saw it as the first trial of their journey with Regar... to cut down your own wife and steal your brother's riches.
The travels of this group took them everywhere around Calradia, from the snowy steps of mountains to the nordic seaside. Trading and looting seemed to be the way Regar made his fortune, slowly. He started recruiting experienced troops and individuals in taverns of many towns, until he was finally captured by an army of Nords, happy to bring his pillaging rampage to a stop. Regar however, escaped a few days later, only to be recaptured right away. His fighting spirit still intact and a testimony to his survival instincts, Regard escaped from the Nords' claws numerous times in the following days, until he could reach the safety of Vaegirs lands.
His renown got him a request from a Vaegir lord: to follow, with his personal army, the army of the Lord and join in the sieges of many keeps, wich Regar happily did. He played an instrumental role in many of these battles, one time almost taking over the keep in a single wave of pure aggressivity.
And this is where Regar stands, for now. Happy to be of service to the lord, wich gives him plenty of missions and shows him plenty of action over enemy walls and fields.
Patiently bidding his time, proving his worth to the lord, until he can finally prove his allegiance and obtain his own little piece of land to defend.
He was asked many times to do deeds that would result in declarations of war from the Khergits. However, he has refused to partake in those actions. Not for the sake of peace, but because he loves to recruit Khergits in his group. With time and experience, they can become dangerous horse archers, essential to his cavalry-heavy army.
He has started looting and attacking Swadians also, when times are hard or when he needs money. Adept at trading and training, Regar is a seasoned traveler and war-monger. Much has yet to be discovered about the history of this timely individual from our archeologists, especially about the rest of his life.
A little is known about his battle skills, however. It seems Regar preffered to fight by his men's side, very rarely not joining them in battle. Favoring a fast, unarmored horse, a jousting pole for taking down the enemy cavalry, he rides at the helm of his formation. He was also deemed very dangerous with his Halberd. One of his favorite plans of actions was to select a hill, post his archers and footmen on top, and sneak behind enemy lines with his cavalry to exercise a pre-emptive strike against unlucky archers and soldiers in the back of the line. One swoop of his blade was often enough to cut off a man's head.
He would then return to his designated hill to come to the aid of this fellow men against cavalry, slowed down by the ascension. Always keeping in movement, he would cut through archers and crossbowmen when they came into shooting range of his foot soldiers.
He was also know to carry a beautifully adorned metal shield and a morningstar for 1 on 1 fights. He would give the honor of a dual to the last survivor of an army, stepping down from his trusty steed to deliver the final blow, cracking the head of the remaining individual.
His mace was also used to knock soldiers unconscious instead of killing them, for the sake of taking them prisoner, later selling them into slavery.
He proved his bravery many times over during sieges, climbing over a keep wall, only to face down a dozen enemies with his shield. He would charge at archers with his shield high and bring them down with his morningstar. Known to fight up to 3 men at a time, he was also an accomplished archer. He is seldom seen taking down an enemy horseman's mount with a bow when the coward would not give up and was hard to catch, and then delivering the final blow from his horse.
-The Calradia vault of artifacts and history.
Chicken
The best chicken in Montreal?????
Ramados, on Rachel, a couple of blocks east of St-Laurent
You get a charcoaled chicken (take the spicy sauce, it's not that spicy), with a MOUNTAIN of succulent fries, rice and salad, bread, a small portuguese pie, an a soft drink for less than 10$.
And it's amazingly good.
There is often a long line but you can call in advance (514-849-1803), there is a line for orders and one for people who did not order, the whole thing served with a smile by Maria who calls everyone mon chéri.
Now, instead of waiting 15 TO 30 minutes for your order (I've seen the line go outside once) it might still be 15 to 30 minutes if you call, but so what, you feel like an habitué when you are in the quick(?) line.
Every time I go there (once a week) I first of all want to go on vacation in Portugal and second I buy an extra dozen of those great little custard pies that Beurre's brother, Decal, wolfs down like there is no tomorrow.
Please don't give me that dry St-Hubert crap or those animals that once were chicken that they serve at KFC ... I want my Ramados!
Ramados, on Rachel, a couple of blocks east of St-Laurent
You get a charcoaled chicken (take the spicy sauce, it's not that spicy), with a MOUNTAIN of succulent fries, rice and salad, bread, a small portuguese pie, an a soft drink for less than 10$.
And it's amazingly good.
There is often a long line but you can call in advance (514-849-1803), there is a line for orders and one for people who did not order, the whole thing served with a smile by Maria who calls everyone mon chéri.
Now, instead of waiting 15 TO 30 minutes for your order (I've seen the line go outside once) it might still be 15 to 30 minutes if you call, but so what, you feel like an habitué when you are in the quick(?) line.
Every time I go there (once a week) I first of all want to go on vacation in Portugal and second I buy an extra dozen of those great little custard pies that Beurre's brother, Decal, wolfs down like there is no tomorrow.
Please don't give me that dry St-Hubert crap or those animals that once were chicken that they serve at KFC ... I want my Ramados!
Monday, February 23, 2009
Mount & Blade Review
People of the gaming community!
Addicts of RPGs!
Fans of the Total War franchise!
I have good news!
Good news indeed!
Recently, my prospector friend Goran has unearthed a gem of multiple facets, of untold value! Previously unknown to me, this little piece of treasury has already been discovered by gamers and labeled a cult classic.
Populace of the internet, i give thee... Mount & Blade!
First introduced to me as ''A very cheesy, fun little addictive game'' by Goran, as he was striding on a green and open field on his black horse, 7 peasants running to his side.
''It looks like Oblivion'' I said.
''What?'' Replied Goran... He was concentrating on the computer screen and barely paying any attention to me. Males of the human species, you see, are not adept at multi-tasking.
A few warcries made me turn back to the screen. In the distance, 6 or 7 footmen were charging. My friend's hero picked up the pace, the horse going in a gallop. The warcries were getting louder. As he swoops by the enemy, he takes out his sword and swings at his left left side, delivering a killing blow to his hated enemy.
''Wait... much more cooler than Oblivion. You can't do anything when you're on a horse, you have to step down to fight''
''Oh.. Yeah, look. Very cheezy, like i said''
I watched as Goran moved some distance away from the group of footmen, got down from his horse, and proceeded to continue the fight on foot. The rest of his group were following right behind, some of them throwing javelins and rocks. He rushed in with his shield high, blocking the first shots and replying with his sabre, cutting down a few enemies.
Before long, the sounds of battle were changed to... hard throat yells of victory from his comrades, celebrating their victory, arms in the air. Sweet!
The graphics were not that great, actually a little bit older than Oblivion, but they felt right. The gameplay was smooth, and the collision recognition perfect.
After that, a screen appeared, showing us what loot he had aquired, how many prisoners he could capture (to later sell into slavery), and how much experience him and his comrades received. A character screen showed us what Goran looked like with his present armor, wich stats did he want to improve as well as his abilities. (Stuff ranging from power strike to horse archery to looting). After leveling up his character, we were transported to the map of the world.
A bird's view showed Goran and the number of his troops (8 + 5 prisoners), traveling around the country side. These soldiers were actually recruited from nearby villages. There are 4 factions in the world, and your actions decide if they will become allies or enemies. Loot the village or escort a caravan?
There are also tracks left by your horse, shown as arrows pointing in the direction you are going. Colors also show how long ago you passed there. The size of the arrows show how large the group was. This is all influenced by your tracking skill. I learned later during my own gameplay that you can recruit heroes in taverns (cheezy, yes) that have party skills. I have a monk good at healing, a tracker and kind of archer wh0 doesn't really do anything.
Since I had a good tracker on board, i was able to find giant yellow arrows on the ground, telling me that a large army was there not too long ago. By following the tracks i was able to catch up to an army actually laying siege on another town, and i was able to lend my hand in.
And let me tell you, it's even cooler. We started charging the wall, going up a ladder, my friends falling to the ground in cries of agony as archers were picking us out. Shields, my friends, where are yours?
When we finally took the wall and the courtyard, we took the castle. The allegiance of the keep actually changed to the color of the lord that took it! The lord was pleased with my effort and offered to give me a quest. I have now been following his army around and going on recon missions for his campaign, helping in taking 2 keeps! The Nords now HATE me.
Altogether, a great game. Character evolution is always important, and in this case you can see it first-hand, you are completely responsible for it! I went from being a looter and pillager to being a trader, to now being a mercenary at the command of a force of almost 40 men. You get to pick if you want your villagers to become archers, footmen, horsemen, although a good mix of the 3 is recommended. I started as a scruffy-looking guy with a ''Lame Horse'', no helmet and just a leather shirt and rusty axe, to a knight with fur armor, a speedy horse, metal greaves. I just bought a huge pole, jousting-style, and a helmet with those cool flat tops. I want to buy one with huge wings but they are too expensive.
I'm also told you can even capture towns and castles yourself and become a faction, receiving taxes and defending your properties. I think you can also try to seduce ladies, more on that as i discover the game more and more!
I strongly, strongly recommend this game!
Here's a few screenshots. The Map, the party meny, and my knight.
Addicts of RPGs!
Fans of the Total War franchise!
I have good news!
Good news indeed!
Recently, my prospector friend Goran has unearthed a gem of multiple facets, of untold value! Previously unknown to me, this little piece of treasury has already been discovered by gamers and labeled a cult classic.
Populace of the internet, i give thee... Mount & Blade!
First introduced to me as ''A very cheesy, fun little addictive game'' by Goran, as he was striding on a green and open field on his black horse, 7 peasants running to his side.
''It looks like Oblivion'' I said.
''What?'' Replied Goran... He was concentrating on the computer screen and barely paying any attention to me. Males of the human species, you see, are not adept at multi-tasking.
A few warcries made me turn back to the screen. In the distance, 6 or 7 footmen were charging. My friend's hero picked up the pace, the horse going in a gallop. The warcries were getting louder. As he swoops by the enemy, he takes out his sword and swings at his left left side, delivering a killing blow to his hated enemy.
''Wait... much more cooler than Oblivion. You can't do anything when you're on a horse, you have to step down to fight''
''Oh.. Yeah, look. Very cheezy, like i said''
I watched as Goran moved some distance away from the group of footmen, got down from his horse, and proceeded to continue the fight on foot. The rest of his group were following right behind, some of them throwing javelins and rocks. He rushed in with his shield high, blocking the first shots and replying with his sabre, cutting down a few enemies.
Before long, the sounds of battle were changed to... hard throat yells of victory from his comrades, celebrating their victory, arms in the air. Sweet!
The graphics were not that great, actually a little bit older than Oblivion, but they felt right. The gameplay was smooth, and the collision recognition perfect.
After that, a screen appeared, showing us what loot he had aquired, how many prisoners he could capture (to later sell into slavery), and how much experience him and his comrades received. A character screen showed us what Goran looked like with his present armor, wich stats did he want to improve as well as his abilities. (Stuff ranging from power strike to horse archery to looting). After leveling up his character, we were transported to the map of the world.
A bird's view showed Goran and the number of his troops (8 + 5 prisoners), traveling around the country side. These soldiers were actually recruited from nearby villages. There are 4 factions in the world, and your actions decide if they will become allies or enemies. Loot the village or escort a caravan?
There are also tracks left by your horse, shown as arrows pointing in the direction you are going. Colors also show how long ago you passed there. The size of the arrows show how large the group was. This is all influenced by your tracking skill. I learned later during my own gameplay that you can recruit heroes in taverns (cheezy, yes) that have party skills. I have a monk good at healing, a tracker and kind of archer wh0 doesn't really do anything.
Since I had a good tracker on board, i was able to find giant yellow arrows on the ground, telling me that a large army was there not too long ago. By following the tracks i was able to catch up to an army actually laying siege on another town, and i was able to lend my hand in.
And let me tell you, it's even cooler. We started charging the wall, going up a ladder, my friends falling to the ground in cries of agony as archers were picking us out. Shields, my friends, where are yours?
When we finally took the wall and the courtyard, we took the castle. The allegiance of the keep actually changed to the color of the lord that took it! The lord was pleased with my effort and offered to give me a quest. I have now been following his army around and going on recon missions for his campaign, helping in taking 2 keeps! The Nords now HATE me.
Altogether, a great game. Character evolution is always important, and in this case you can see it first-hand, you are completely responsible for it! I went from being a looter and pillager to being a trader, to now being a mercenary at the command of a force of almost 40 men. You get to pick if you want your villagers to become archers, footmen, horsemen, although a good mix of the 3 is recommended. I started as a scruffy-looking guy with a ''Lame Horse'', no helmet and just a leather shirt and rusty axe, to a knight with fur armor, a speedy horse, metal greaves. I just bought a huge pole, jousting-style, and a helmet with those cool flat tops. I want to buy one with huge wings but they are too expensive.
I'm also told you can even capture towns and castles yourself and become a faction, receiving taxes and defending your properties. I think you can also try to seduce ladies, more on that as i discover the game more and more!
I strongly, strongly recommend this game!
Here's a few screenshots. The Map, the party meny, and my knight.
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| From Montréal Comics |
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| From Montréal Comics |
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| From Montréal Comics |
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| From Montréal Comics |
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| From Montréal Comics |
la crise frappe l'industrie du jeu vidéo
Midway, les créateurs de Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe et autres jeux populaires vient de se placer sous la loi de protection de faillite.
Quand même surprenant quand on sait que l'industrie du jeu vidéo surpasse celle du cinéma en terme de revenus annuels
Soembody somewhere has made a lot of monnnnnnney
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