Sunday, March 6, 2011

Le Presedante

Its strange, as you grow up and have less time in your life you find yourself managing to fill it up more that you thought possble. Now a days I Work, Roleplay, Fence,Dragon Boat and have been elected President of FenCen (Lower North Island Fencing Asst).

Its crazy busy when you add the preasures of a relationship, owning a home and fitting in your friends but I wouldnt change my life in anyway, well... Maybe Id add "Win Lotto" into the mix but hell... Im content with my lot without lotto.

Its strange to think that a long time ago I thought Id never come back to the fencing fraternity, but here I am more involved than I have ever been with anything of such nature. Sure, I have been Cpt of a Chess club but that's when I was 15. It scary to think now I am the elected conduit for my fencing peers will, sorry if you thought I was going to be a pistol wielding madman, that's not my style anymore. :)

Maybe I should buy a Hat and a Unicycle I doubt I could pull the hat off... But the Unicycle!l... Hmmmm...


Sunday, February 6, 2011

RPG - No Kingdom for Old Men! (PFS)


 Art Source Click Here
 
In December I started a new campaign called "No Kingdom for Old Men". Its my 1st attempt at running a pathfinder (D&D 3.75) game and so far its going quite well. When I start to put the game together in my mind I really wanted to run a Middle Eastern/Slave style game and was going to base it off the "Legacy of Fire", but Dan ran his first and it ended up that his storyline follows the "Legacy of Fire" at various points so rather than run another version of the wheel I opted for something else.

Also after reading "Legacy of Fire" I discovered that the Storyline is actually pretty weak and I'm happy I didn't run it now. I have still nabbed a few things from it but for the majority it isn't all that usable.

So instead I decided that I would run an alternative version of "King Maker", In the original version of "King Maker" you get given a writ and sent off to clear out a swath of land and become a king, but as we kind of did that in Dans game I decided instead the group would have the opportunity to work for someone else who is trying to set up a town/region and have the group work on his behalf.

I like the idea of the Kingmaker Modules except for 1 part... That the Kingdom Creation rules are complete rubbish! Unless of course you like running a massive excel sheet of Micromanagement Madness as your Kingdom twists and turns in the wind turn from turn. I am sure that the originators of teh kingdom system

During my research phase of creating the game I did find a cool little treasure maker online that I quickly downloaded and now have kicking around for whenever I need to generate items on the market, It randomly generates Magic items either by town size of GP/Power Ratings for Pathfinder... It makes having a changing item market actually viable and non tedious/time consuming!

Click Here and get the latest free version!


The game is slowly developing into the creation that I want to acheive, I cant really say a lot as some of my players read this and that would spoil the surprises I have in store for them, but I can say that my inspiration is a mixture or Rome meets Sparticus meets West Wing... Take from that what you will. :)


Reminds me, I should rewatch west wing!

If you want to read on whats been going on then check out the game Journal for both an informed and funny read.

Thursday, February 3, 2011

DIY - Ribbons of Madness!

So Elaine has this girl room of doom (see below) and one of the things she asked me when we started was 'baby, I need a thingy to hold my Ribbons and Bobbin and it needs to be cute". "Of course" I said... "You draw it up and I will build it!", However along the way there were some brain seizures but I'm happy to say they are past now.

I put together the frame and managed to fail at making rounded corners, They started round and then I put my damn Tenon saw through them and made then square, You can I am sure imagine me swearing!

With the frame together I put the ribbon rail in, Rather than use my new router I drilled a hole and used my Tenon Saw to make 2 45 degree cuts, then filed the grooves down and Tack/Glued the rail guides in place.

Groove and Rail for the ribbons :) 

The next step was the rails for the bobbins, I made some 45 degree triangles and glued them evenly down the sides and then chopped 5 bits of rail and drilled holes in them to pop the 7mm dowel in then, I knocked them into the 6mm holes with a light bullpen hammer and now Elaine will have 85 bobbin holders.

 45 degree braces and bobbin rails


Basic overview before placing the last 4 rails in


 
An army of rails!

 Ready to paint!

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Fencing - My Personal Grindhouse

Fencing has throughout my life been one of my greatest passions, Back in 1991 when I picked up my 1st post grip foil and said.. "Yes! This is the sport for me..". My father I don't think was that happy as I refused to go back to football. As it turned out we both lost, My parents couldn't afford for me to take part in fencing that year but I hoped that the year after I could, in the year of 1991 I played no sport and that blew.

But 1993 was different, My parents having being driven insane by my being at home sent me to fencing, and damn did I have a great time! For the next few years I fenced and trained my little heart out and when I moved collages because my parents brought their 1st house I still fenced... But for another club.

Over those years I made some great friends and met some even better pillocks, backing in those days fencing was insane, there were so many clubs and all with big numbers, HVHS was packed out, Lower Hutt Fencing had just started under Penny Grant-Taylor, Vic Uni was running, Rongitai Collage had a club as did Heratunga and Aeotea.

After 4-5 years in the sport I eventually put down the weapons I loved as my knees hurt so very muchand women were becoming a lot more interesting to me.

Some 14 years later at the age of 31 I decided that I should return to fencing, I had not played football for a full year and was beginning to pack on the weight, so after I got back from the gold coast i made a flight down to Christchurch to see Daniel Chan, there I spent a lot of money and got myself hooked up with Whites, Masks and 3 of each weapon, Foil Epee and Sabre.

No longer was I a poor student, I had a job and the will to fence... People said at the time... Just go back and try it 1st Baz.. To that I said No! I knew if I went back Id be there to stay for some time... And here I am fast approaching 34 and still back at it.

A lot of the people I remember are gone now, retired from the sword, my original coach is still there though, Kam Smart and its impressive to see he still helps out kids when they need it, It reminds me of when I was a kid and he showed me how effective the "bind" was.

Me, Robert GB and Roger Haymen

Now that I am back at fencing I fond im doing things I'd never have thought of doing, I help train kids from 10 years old and up, I serve on teh Fencing Central council as a General Exec and Web Admin, I fence in 3 clubs and relish silently in the fact that all the pillocks i remember from the old days, are gone.

The most important thing is that I enjoy fencing and have made some very good friends through the sport... and even though the politics are still there, they seem more subdued.

Me, Rainbow and Nancy

As the new year comes in I find I am up for helping where I can again and have been accepted as an Offical Wellington Swords Coach, Im also throwing my hat into the ring for the General Exec on the Fencen Council, This with my UHC and Vic Uni clubs should make for a busy and fun year.

Culliford Vs Clark, in The never ending battle for Master of Arms!

Now... if only someone would hurry up with the Tournament Calander! :)

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

DIY - My new obsession

Well recently my partner and I had our Christmas break and when your not planning to go away what better thing is there to do than some DIY, We had 2 rooms downstairs that desperately needed some love and attention so destiny decreed that it should be done! (And it was so)

Between the "fixed wall lights", "3 layers of wall paper", Some "rotten" wall Gib, An old chip board tiled ceiling that I think most of the street has and "red" shag pile carpet.... Something had to give... And apparently the thing to give was Elaine, Enough she said... Lets do it!

It appears Santa knew what I was doing before I did because I got a lot of power tools, and most of them were sanders!(And of course my FAVORITE power tool, My cordless drill!)

During the time Lainey also did sone furnature DIY, Heres some pics of that action!

Fol out Bed couch, what a groovy colour... but for 1 dollar... who cares!
A work in progress!
 
TADAA! 1 Newly Covered Couch!
What an interstingly shaped cabnet
 As most of Christmas... a Work in progress!

So we started away and cleared the rooms out  things, At this point Id like to say that my Garage was clear of gear, then we moved 2 rooms of stuff into them... I have only just now "ALMOST" re-resolved the zero space issue. Almost...

Here are a few photos of the original layout/scheme of emails room, Note the red Shag pile carpet and the "Blandness of colors"

So once the rooms were clear of objects we started to get into it, The 1st job was the Ceiling of doom, It had to go, so I started to pull the ceiling tiles down, Thankfully who ever put them up was nice and cheap and didn't bother to use glue, What this meant that other than tear the tiles down all I had to was de-staple the joists, which was another bonus... I didn't have to lay up batons!

Me tearing out tiles
When Tiles fight back!

So many days were spent un-wallpapering the 2 rooms, one of the rooms have wall paper that had kool little toys on it, When I find teh Big Camera I'll post these up below as well.

After the paper was stripped back it was time to take the Architraves off and start laying Gib, now when I approached the issue of Gib I though it would be easy.. and in a way it was... 2 bloody days later it was done, Not plastered, no no no... Thanks to Hugh (Laineys Dad) and Lester we got it all up though. :)

On day 2 though Lester locked his keys in his car, So I showed off my grand theft auto skills and broke into his car, 49 minutes later... I was! Damn I'm a beast! (this didn't include looking on Youtbe for a tutorial)

With the Gib up we started the nightmare that was plastering and sanding, This time Dan helped out, yet again everything took longer than expected and  I spent one of the three days working out the puzzle we like to call "Architraves... How do the go back together? Now 3 days later the wall and ceilings were prepped up and it was FINALLY time for the fun  stuff! - PAINTING.

The Painting was a long and sordid affair, Elaine started with a Spray gun, I cant say that I wall all that impressed,,, However with a darker paint it may have been better/easier to work out where you had already painted. She went with a light green and a dark Blue.

Me, Im a simple guy, I went to the shop, picked out a Grey i liked, then I picked out some textured wallpaper that suited it and I was off like a rocket!

3 or 4 days later we were done, just in time to get the carpet laid, thank god it matched my walls, Elaine was sure from the start of the project, I however blundered my way to success, The lack of wall lights and their new modern looking spotlights certinally helped my room.


Here are some pics of Laineys "Almost finished room, Its only missing the bobbin/ribbon holder and thats en-route at the moment.
I will post pictures of my RPG room when I have the door back on, that should be in a few days :)

All in all a great success and I'm looking froward to any of the next 4 projects they are
  • Make a Ribbon/Bobbin holder (WIP)
  • Removing the Mediterranean archway. (The only Mediterranean thing in the whole house?!?)
  • Redoing the walls and roof in the downstairs hallway leading to the 2 redone rooms
  • Giving the downstairs bathroom a make over (New paint and new floor)

Thursday, January 27, 2011

Kapcon - Looking back to go foward

Kapcon to me is always a roller coaster medly of Madness, Fun, Carnage and special moments of "Clickyness". In the past it has also been a complete pain in my arse, with infighting and eliteism taking centre stage.

I consider myself one of a small group that has had over time had a complete  overview of Kapcon, which in its very own right should be considered a force of nature. I have Help in the Org team, the Larps, Running Games, Playing in games, I've won Best GM & Player and I have made hundereds of mates (Not that my facebook represent this). I am in fact one of the blessed.

Over the years I have run a lot of games and on the odd year I have only played in games, using that time to see what other people are doing in the hobby and how they approach their games, but in general I run games and normally spend the weekend in pain from Hangovers, Twisted ankles, Lost Voice or impacted Wisdom Teeth, I think this year was special... I had none of the above injurys but had plenty of fun.

I have attended 12 Kapcons now and have been attending since Kapcon 5 i think, Over the years its grown a lot but now seems to be in a stable place, a good place. I have over the years run 27 games, been involved in the writing of 3 LARPs, been a Con Orginiser and gernally made myself available to help out as required, but now for some foward thinking...

As a GM/Storyteller I need to grow and I think I may have 1 more year of madness in me before I start to tackle serious games, Like many people I am already thinking about Kapcon 21 and what I will do, Will I GM again, will I just play? I think the answer is obvious... I will GM and strive yet again to bring explosive excitment to players alike!

But what to run, over the years I have Co-Gmed with some of the very best GMs NZ has to offer, I have GMed with Dale, Dan and Marty... So who now will I GM with? Its a question that begs to be answered, and if I can't answer the question... Should I gun ahead alone?

I have a list of GMs in my head that Id love to GM a co-GM game with, they include Morge D, Matt C, Jenni and Luke W. I'm sure there are others but I can't bring their names to cohesive thought right now, and other good options I must decline, purely from the point of place that our style very likely would not mesh.

I also find myself looking at the SDC and thinking... should I take a crack? I know if I do that then now is the time to start, because I have a very busy Fencing Season ahead and I should hammer and tongs on if I am going to enter.

All these thoughts and yet its only Jan 28, 2011.

Onwards I guess! :)


Kapcon stuff I done include: (Red = Attended)

  • 1993 KapCon '93 (Coastlands, Paraparaumu)
  • 1994 KapCon '94 (Coastlands, Paraparaumu)
  • 1995 KapCon '95 (Museum Hotel)
  • 1996 KapCon '96 (Museum Hotel)
  • 1997 KapCon '97 (Just On Willis Motel)
    • Player Only
  • 1998 KapCon '98 (Victoria University) 
    • LARP Writer
    • (1 Game)
      •  VtM - Clash of the Neonates 
        • Best Overall GM
  • 1999 KapCon '99 (Wellington Netball Clubrooms) 
    • (1 Game)
      • Earthdawn Game
        • Best Overall Player
  • 2000 KapCon IX (Turnbull House) 
    • (2 Games)
      •  Smurfs Vs the Bears
      •  Smurfs Vs the Bears (Teleporting Version)
  • 2001 KapCon X (Northland Community Hall)  
    • (1 Game)
      • A Horribull Day
  • 2002 KapCon XI: The Eleventh Hour (Northland Community Hall)
    • Con Orginiser
    • LARP Writer
    •  (4 Games)
      • Blackrock 1881
      • Hill 937 (1969)
      • 2020 Finale
      • Game Swapping Madness
  • 2003 KapCon XII: The Twelfth Night (Wellington High School)
    • Player only
  • 2004 KapCon XIII: I Know What You Roleplayed Last Summer (Wellington High School) 
    •  (5 Games)
      • Tomb Of Horrors! (with Martijn Verburg)
  • 2005 KapCon XIV: The Big 10-4 (Wellington High School)  
    • LARP Writer
    • (5 Games)
      • It Took Five to Tango, but Only One to Limbo
      • The Life (with Dale Elvy) x 4
  • 2006 KapCon XV: Rule Britannia (Wellington High School)
  • 2007 KapCon XVI: Flight of the Hindenburg (Wellington High School)
    • (5 Games)
      • I Know, Right (By Jenni)
      • Gilman House (By Donna)
      • In a Darkened Room (By Paul) x 2
      • The Ballad of Old Tusky (By Matt)
  • 2008 KapCon XVII: Random Encounters (Wellington High School)
    • Player Only
  • 2009 KapCon XVIII: Suitable For General Audiences (Wellington High School)
  • 2010 KapCon XIX: N-n-n-n-n-Ninetee (Wellington High School)
  • 2011 KapCon XX: Unnatural 20 (Wellington High School)  
    • (3 Games)
      • Purgatory 13 – Decent to Abraxus (with dan L'Estrange) x 3
        • Confirmed 125 Kills
Source: Wikipedia



Kapcon 20 - Al Shir-Ma

Kapcon 20, after having taken 2 years out of the Kapcon circuit I decided to step back up to the plate this year and GM once more for the fine gamers of NZ and further afield. 

This year I teamed up with Dan L'Estrange (One of my closest friends) and him and I decided that this year we would run a Space/Future based game.

To be fair Dan did all of the game design and pretty much all of the work Pre-Con, It turned out that setting up a new Pathfinder Campaign and trying to write a Con game at the same time is not in my capability anymore and to be fair, I'm not sure it ever was!

I did however pour over Dans work and put my own slur on it before the Con, Though Im not sure I told him about it... Anyway, without further ado, here is my Kapcon Review.


Dal L (ArmyDan)                             Baz (Glock-9mm)


Pre-Con (Friday Night)


Under normal circumstances I would drink until very drunk, and then stagger home and drool my way through day 1... BUT not this year... This year I had a plan! Elaine had orders to come get me if I thought I was staying past 11, she promised she would! Not that she needed too! I managed to catch up with a few of people  James Glover & Jarrod K being but 2  of them! Drinks flowed and chatter enchewed, all in all a worthwhile night. :)



Day 1 (Saturday)

The day was warm but the company was good, Dan and I arrived on time and set up for our 1st 2 rounds of madness, Running network cables between rooms and setting up projectors, solving IP issues and preying that everything worked.. It did with a little kick from IT Baz.

Someone asked me at some point how I thought it would go, I answered with something along the lines of "We have 120 total characters, It should go well... We are aiming for a Tonne you know"... And just like that I'd set the bar!

We then waited for the players to arrive for Purgatory 13 - Decent to Abraxus

Round 1 - Purgatory 13 - GM Dan & Baz




Round one was slower and smaller than expected, we only managed to pull a total of 7 Players, that was far off the number 12 that we wanted, the game did run well though especially as we had never test played the game (I'm not  big on test playing games, Dan and  I have a reasonable idea what "will" and "wont" work, and inevitably we constantly tweak the game anyway). 


The game ran well and with our 1st 17 kills under our belt we made some adjustments to the game and prepped for the next game, to be honest I was nervous for the 2nd rounds attendance levels but I needn't have been!


After round 1 Dan and I headed to the Mt Cook Cafe for a few beers and some food, there we came to a few conclusions, Namely that we were moving too slow in the game and needed to ramp the hell up, so thats what we did, and the body count showed it.




Round 2 - Purgatory 13 - GM Dan & Baz




Round Two saw us pull 11 of the 12 players and the game was a lot more free flowing than in round one, I put that down to greater numbers, In round 1 we slid a few players here and there but now we really started to push people about, The players jumped on board and we rolled like Thunder through the game, This time the players did very well and Dan and I both commented that we thought they were so close to keeping the ship in orbit... However I think the players ran out of hope gas and the Ship split up and all hands were yet again.. lost!


This time though players seemed to get the idea that burning through PC was ok, One of the most disturbing things I heard was one person playing a guard cpt saying... "Right Guys, we need a computer tech, none of us have the skills... who is gunna take the hit?"


The Guards in this game were Ruthless, Killing all Prisoners they found and I put that down to Sarge, he seemed to love shooting folk! :) All in all, 27 killed, bringing the total to (44)


Round 3 - My Life with Boss - GM, Dan L
 


Round 3 saw me at a loose end so I decided to play in Dans game, My life with Boss, A parody play on "My Life with Master", Set in Wellington we played a bunch of Media junkies for a company no better than the "The Daily Sun"... This game was fun and with a good ammount of prep was really enjoyable. Dan pulled it off very well, My highlights of the game was almost convincing my co-worker it was a good idea to hook up with me and helping another player send the lapdog NPC off to be with a "Daddy" for a spell.


If you get the chance to play in this I recommend it, Just make sure you have a solid role playing group and not a roll playing. Dan got top marks!


 That night... 

That night I got home to discover something disturbing, Lemonade had got into the router, I spent an hour pulling it apart, cleaning it with handy towels, cotton buds and a blow drier. But fret not, It worked fine after a dry out :)




Day 2 (Sunday)

Round 4 - 3:16 - GM, Dan L



Dan and I Arrived wondering if we were going to be running in round 1, it turned out no! So I went to the Games on Demand (GOD) room and found that the most appealing game to me was 3:16. 

Having never heard of or played this game before it sounded interesting and yet again Dan gave us a full measure of madness! We shot folk, we had slow-mo moments of me and JJ yelling out "COmmMmmMmMmmEeEee GeTTtTttttT SomMMmMmmmMmeeEEe" while ripping up aliens up with side mounted Machine Gun's.


All in all I enjoyed this game SO much that its now on my list of things to buy, the game was fun, easy and all in all a bloody good lark! :)





Round 5 - Purgatory 13 - GM Me & Dan





After yet another fine meal (Although we were slightly soggy from the walk) we made a few assumptions, 
  1. If we didnt have enough players for our last game, we were going to steal them from GOD, turns out we didnt really need too.
  2. Game on, no prisoners taken, no mr nice guy!
  3. Airlocks are NOT your friend!
  4. We were going to have to push bloody hard to make the tonne..
Little did we know that 3 of the old school GM/PLayers had fallen on loose ends, Dan was sent upstairs to grab some players and he nabbed a few, Just before we started play though like 3 of the Horseman of the Apocolypse Dale, Morg and Luke W rocked up, It was right then I knew we were going to have no issues making the tonne, because these 3 would let loose in a blaze of glory!


So between Dale ripping out 10 fellow PCs and Sophies random headshots we were quickly back on track, and like round 1 any hope of getting to the planet were quickly lost in the en shewing madness. The plot was quickly out the window, the space shuttle in peices it all came down to 1 thing... Who could get the highest body count!


I think the Final room scores for this round was "Dan 26, Baz 55", It was something close to this anway. It didnt matter though, the players went nuts and the newer players who had never played in a game Dan and I were running were treated to what I consder today, Thumbs up Fun!



Prize Giving


Prize giving was held and there were new winners in almost all Catagorys which was groovy, I think Dan and I were a bit sad though at our overall performance, maybe we need to push harder? The prize selection was AMAZING and I think people were pushed to decide what goodies they would get.


After this I rolled home as unlike most, I had to work on Wellington Anv. :(



Wrap Up Notes!

Good Things
  • GOD was well set up to handle players and yet again a good ammount of fun
  • Kapcon orginisation was yet again very good, at no point was I left "lost", Unless of course I was looking at the games board, see below.
  • Hells Pizza orders rocked, Although I didn't order it people seemed to love this facility.
  • Everyone was friendly and happy, although having so many people know me and me not knowing them was a concern.
Disappointing Things
  • The website was ALWAYS down, This meant I couldnt pre reg and never got my name badge, This of course made me sad. But lm sure this will be fixed for next year :S (Not that I care, I have my own solution)
  • The boards with games on them were a little disorginised, I quickly lost interest in trying to read game blurbs and so simply went with whatever was left over. Looking for numbers on them became annoying as hell!
Things that could give added Value!
  • Signs on each floor stating what room numbers are on that floor. I had some annoyed looking people ask me where each room was... I had no idea, I knew where I had to be! lol.
  • Adoption of new Con GM's (Something I think Dan L is taking point on)


Purgatory 13 – Decent to Abraxus 

Number of Players: 12 (two games running concurrently) 
System: A nod to Grey Ranks 
Theme: Sci Fi 
Maturity: 16+ 
Facilitators: Dan L'Estrange & Bryan (Baz/Zak) Clark 

BLERB
----------------------------------------------------
Purgatory 13 Prisoner Transfer Log

Main dock lock complete... transferring computer core in 3... 2... 1... Mark.
Prisoner records transfer complete.
Passport control transfer complete.
Computer core transfer.... incomplete.

ALERT ALERT ALERT. Main dock locks fail. Emergency thrusters online.
ALERT ALERT ALERT. Fire in transfer tube. Decompression in main dock. Lock down procedures in effect.
ALERT ALERT ALERT. Lock down fail.
ALERT ALERT ALERT. Main computer offline. Attempting restart.
ALERT ALERT ALERT. Restart failed.

-----------------------------------------------------

Far from Earth in the distant arm of the equinox system the prisoner starship “Purgatory 13” has suffered severe system and hardware damage after what should have been a standard docking procedure that went wrong!

Purgatory 13's main computer was forced into quick action, and attempted to place the ship into a stable orbit around the Abraxus prison planet, however venting gases and system failures are slowly forcing a descent towards the atmosphere of Abraxus threatening not only the lives of ships crew, but also the lives of the prisoners!

Purgatory 13 attempted a reboot to correct himself, but the computer lost control of the almost all ship systems and stalled (blue screen!). The lock down of prison quarters started to fail sporadically and some the “meanest sons of bitches” destined for prison… are set free!

This rollercoaster scenario pits the (Upstanding Ship Crew) VS (Mean “Son of a Bitch” Prisoners) in a fight to gain control not only the Purgatory 13… But their lives!

With everything going so wrong… Who will be victor?!?


Reviews:

Luke W - http://grandexperiment.livejournal.com/137654.html
Dale - http://total-party-kill.blogspot.com/2011/01/kapcon-20-part-2.html
confusion - http://confusiontempst.livejournal.com/508878.html

Artwork Kudos goes out to

  • Comegetsome - Military Photos (http://browse.deviantart.com/?qh=&section=&q=Helicopter+Gunner#/d2c7svx)
  •  Boss - Edi the Yeti (http://browse.deviantart.com/?q=Mad%20Boss&order=9&offset=48#/d164s5a) 
  • Spaceship - Ben Hassad (http://browse.deviantart.com/?qh=&section=&q=Spaceship#/d187nr9)