Louis Agresta's page

I recently bought Hero Lab. Love the program. As a designer and contributor, I would love for monster creation -- using everything that's in the bestiary and including adding PC classes and PrCs -- to be as easy as making a character. I only want to go to something like the Editor when I'm inventing an entirely new magic item, ability, spell, race, class or PrC.

That ability, combined with what's already in Hero Lab, is my holy grail. I would utterly pay extra for a Bestiary data set and monster design screens.

Thanks everyone. Good info!

Here's a question: as a freelancer and contributor I'm always looking for programs that will save me time by out-putting NPCs to a word doc or rtf file in the Paizo official stat block format. I have a tool I work with that's pretty close, but can Herolabs and or PCGen do that?

Also, what about monster design? Can I design a monster in either Herolabs or PCGen and output that in stat block format?

@Mairkurion Your Link As Requested

Also, since Hyrum of Supergenius games posted this, I was pretty satisfied.

Lastly, I have a Cthulu adventure coming out with these folks, and I'd just like to say they rock. Great editor and publisher. Me likey!

Fantastic! Thanks for sharing the pics.

For those interested, review here: RPGAggression

For those interested, review here: RPGAggression

I think this cover rocks! Full review coming soon...

I dig that cover. Am planning a full review, soon.

In terms of the The Steel Remains, I have never really read anything else where homosexuality in SF/fantasy is full-on. It might be alluded to, it might be mentioned...In a genre where heterosexual sex scenes are certainly not unknown, gay sex is often glossed over...In The Steel Remains, there are several scenes of full-on gay sex, with the hero banging various males in explicit detail (Morgan's hetero sex scenes in his other books are very full-on too - personally, I find it a bit embarrassing but actually the gay ones in The Steel Remains make a lot more sense in setting character in the context of this book than some of the others, which just seemed sorta slung in there for jollies). It's not judgmental, and the character feels both male, masculine (he's a master swordsman, not a pansy) and authentically gay in a (as Louis puts it) "I like dick - deal with it" sort of way. It's a pretty impressive piece of characterization, especially since Morgan is (as far as I know) a heterosexual man, and it is something that is pretty unprecedented in anything else I have ever read in the genre. That's not to say that homosexuality hasn't arisen as a subject, but it really has not been as central to the plot as it is in this book (oh, and one of the other protagonists is a drug-abusing lesbian, though she gets no action as such in this volume) nor is it dealt with in such a muscular fashion. That's not to say that such details haven't been central in other books (I'm sure I've read merely a tiny fraction of the available stuff out there) but I'm not really aware of it if it is.
...

So Louis you believe Gay is only defined by the character existing in a prejudical enviroment?

What I think is that in the 21st century and certainly in, not least, America, gay does exist in a prejudicial environment. My use of "genuine" in this context was meant to be a modifier to the fictional treatment and NOT to imply that a gay person who does not experience the world as prejudicial is therefore not an authentically gay person.

Hooray for that gay person and what's the location? Because a lot of people I know would like to live there, too. That is said without sarcasm.

Rather, what is behind my criteria is simply that the experience of most gay people is the experience of living in a prejudiced, often hostile world. Fiction that ignores this reality may serve to entertain or to hold up an ideal (or some other purpose I'm not thinking of just now), but such fiction is not exploring the genuine experience of most homosexuals.

In short: a contrast between fiction that explores the problem and fiction that whitewashes it.

Or do you think gay does not exist in a hostile, prejudicial environment and, consequently, think there is nothing to whitewash?

Louis Agresta wrote:

Aubrey the Malformed wrote:

Richard Morgan's The Steel Itself. He's mainly known as an SF writer but the above is his most recent novel, the first part of a fantasy series. His style is fairly "in your face". The main protagonist in this series is gay and (in typical Morgan style) there are some pretty explicit sex scenes of various dispositions. It's an interesting take as Morgan seems to be quite interested in social themes, and the issues of anti-gay prejudice are quote prominent in the book. (It also works quite well on the action side too.)

This. Perhaps the first genuinely gay, genuinely hero.

That can't possbibly be true, that's a very new book, just look at all the others listed in this forum alone.
What makes you say this?

"Possibly the first genuinely gay male hero as the central protagonist in a work of modern speculative fiction."

First, I could be wrong. I often am - just ask my wife. :) Seriously, I really did mean possibly, as in, I'm not sure but I'm noodling.

But, by genuinely gay, I mean an honest sensibility about being gay in a straight-dominated world, with all the suffering and anger and compromises and hard choices that entails. I also mean a treatment of sexuality demonstrating apprehension of homesexuality's roots as equivalent to the roots of heterosexual sexuality. In other words, not some white-washed "our love was so holy it transcended our sexuality" take on why it's ok for there to be male-on-male humping. Rather, I want to bone yon male like a man wants to bone a woman or vis versa, etc. For an example of what I mean, consider the scene in the beginning of Morgan's book where the main character is in bed with his former lover. I'd kill to write a scene with that much honesty about an experience and orientation not my own.

By central central protagonist I mean the person whom the story is primarily about -- more than any other character in the text.

By hero I mean something very specific too. The way I would categorize Buffy, for example, as a hero and not just another heroine. One who saves. Autonomous one who protects and defends. And this is key: held up as a role model. Books could and have been written on "what is a hero" so there's lots to discuss on that one and plenty of room for reasonable people to disagree.

I could be totally wrong, and I haven't read everything on the list, but I don't think male, genuinely gay true heroes are all that common in fantasy literature. It's one thing to be "tolerant" and deliver a subtext of "gay people are just like us, we should accept them..." (insert lalala's and tinkerbell music) It's another entirely to say, "This is a dude who is into d**k. You should emulate and look up to him because he's a hero."

Here's my attempt at the list from above. People more familiar with the books will undoubtedly be able to fill my commentary out better and/or correct me...

Perdido Street - not the central protagonist
Iron COuncil - not a hero, IIRC
Last Herald Mage - can't recall if the main character is gay or just secondary characters?
Dune - not the hero
The Cage - read that a long time ago. Is the gayness explored? Does it come from being born that way? Or is it just lesbian sex scenes?
Stealing Magic - short stories. And I can't recall which of the two is gay.
Huff Blood Books - not the central protagonist
Tony Forster - Couldn't find.
Weis/Hickman Rose of the Prophet trilogy - who's gay in this, again?
Silicon Mage - neither central protagonist nor hero, if I recall
Robert Jordan - neither central protagonist nor hero
RA Salvatore - neither central protagonist nor hero
The Heritage of Hastur - not the central protagonist, IIRC
THe Skull of Truth - not the central protagonist
Adept/Apprentice - not the central protagonist
Shadows of Amn/Throne of Bhaal - not the central protagonist, IIRC
Melanie Rawn - not the central protagonist
Distress - no hero
Terenesia - haven't read it. Is this dud of a main character a hero?
Swordspoint - great book. Was the main character gay or bi?
Scandal Takes a holiday - not the central protagonist
Sandman - not the central protagonist in the meta arc
Song of Ice and Fire - not sure there's a hero yet in the whole thing!
Stone Dance of the Chameleon - haven't read it.
Prince of Nothing - not the central protagonist and arguably not a hero
Monarchies of God - bisexual
Tale of Krispos - not the central protagonist
King Casimir - an insult to homesexuals
The Warrior's Tale - this may be a winner, I can't recall it well enough
Shadowslayers - haven't read, but the author could tell us more
Chalker - not a gay hero
Tapestry of Souls - haven't read
Nightrunner - not the hero, IIRC

I was about to suggest the Lambda Awards as well, but I'll throw in the Tiptree Award for good measure. Strangely, I can think of a ton of science fiction novels off the top of my head, but other than Iron Council, I'm drawing a blank on fantasy.

Also, I was under the impression that Ursula K. LeGuin's "The Left Hand of Darkness" was pretty much required reading for any class dealing with gender or sexuality.

Of course, if you really want to see an SF author play with issues of sexuality (and have a strong stomach) James Tiptree, Jr. is a genius...

** spoiler omitted **

Richard Morgan's The Steel Itself. He's mainly known as an SF writer but the above is his most recent novel, the first part of a fantasy series. His style is fairly "in your face". The main protagonist in this series is gay and (in typical Morgan style) there are some pretty explicit sex scenes of various dispositions. It's an interesting take as Morgan seems to be quite interested in social themes, and the issues of anti-gay prejudice are quote prominent in the book. (It also works quite well on the action side too.)

Saw this film a few nights ago. In my quest to better understand science fiction films and the prevailing pulse that keeps hollywood creating them, I never miss an opportunity to see them.

Pandorum received a 29% from Rotten Tomatoes. In a sense, saying you should avoid seeing this film. When a film that I am hellbent on seeing comes out with a bad rating, I purposely avoid reading the individual critic's reviews until I have made up my own mind as to what went right or wrong.

Now that I have seen this film and compared the critics ideas to my own, I can fully say that this film is one of the better sci-fi flicks I have seen in quite awhile. Almost at every turn, the critics seemed to knock this film for what I considered to be its strengths. I could not believe how deliberately wrong so many were in their appraisal. It was almost as if, it was a deliberate smear campaign to make a beauty appear ugly.

Pandorum features a truly epic ship. The thing is a massive hulk full of dark dangerous places. The ship sets are jaw dropping amazing. I don't believe I have seen anything like this on such a scale since the film Alien. If you know Alien, Resident Evil,(or heard of Eden Log) than this film would be a hybrid of these three. I do value Rotten Tomatoes opinions when I am choosing a film, but I can firmly say that my trust in their critics has been shaken.

The acting in Pandorum was excellent, the story was driven and the intrigue was very high.

I cannot give an excellent review to this film because the ending was a little rushed. I won't give that away, but I will say that I have been thinking about this film for quite a few days. If a film succeeds in doing that, I think it is worthy of a classic.

I might also add that I would never knock a sci fi film for a bad or unpopular ending. Blade Runner was initially released with a very sucky ending, but that didn't stop it from becoming one of the greatest films in science fiction history.

HOLY s#*%! IT'S EMOTHULHU!

Can someone tell me why I should get excited by this project? Has anyone got a review handy?

Greg also ran me (and others, of course!) through a snippet of Slumbering Tsar last Paizocon. I mention that here.

Hope that helps a little.

We should publish a mini-campaign setting and adventure for this.

Originally brought to my attention by Tom Ganz, I saw, and I knew. Sebastian's new campaign.

LASER PONIES!

:)

Check it!

Hey lou, if ya get this send me an e-mail about this weeks meet up.

Louis Agresta wrote:

Just a reminder and confirmation. I'll be at the Dragon's Den tomorrow on Rt. 9 at 3pm. People are schedule to arrive between 3 and 4, so we probably won't get started until 4ish. See you there!

I'll be in NEw Paltz Monday night and Poughkeepsie part of Tuesday( and Tuesday Evening)
You gonna be around?

I hope they make a statue of him smiling. He had a magical smile, full of life and humour. He smiled like Hotei. If a sculptor could catch that smile, it would be a great statue to have in any park.

If funding is a problem, they could offset the cost by making a limited issue bust available for geek dens everywhere.

He should be holding a globe of Greyhawk (Oerth), and smiling.

Welcome, Brandon!

Just a reminder and confirmation. I'll be at the Dragon's Den tomorrow on Rt. 9 at 3pm. People are schedule to arrive between 3 and 4, so we probably won't get started until 4ish. See you there!

Louis Agresta wrote:

Nice!

Yone. Master of P*ssy.

Awesome.

Lou Garou.

Second favorite nickname: Animal (from growling and barking at people while playing sports - don't ask).

Dumbest nicknames: Agresta the Molester, Agression

Common nicknames: Big Lou, Luigi

Nice!

Yone. Master of P*ssy.

Awesome.

Ok, confirmed and solid. 3pm this Thursday, Sept 17th, at the Dragon's Den on Route 9 in Poughkeepsie. All welcome. See you there!

baron arem heshvaun wrote:

What's the chance you will make Manhattan sometime soon Lou ?

I come down to Manhattan semi-regularly. Like 1/mnth. I'd come down and give you some of my big CoC adventure anytime, if that's what you're thinking?

Shout out to Sebastian: I just popped up a review on the latest Alpha Omega book. It's their first monster monster manual. Just in case you are still interested.

What's the chance you will make Manhattan sometime soon Lou ?

Louis Agresta wrote:

andrew berthiaume wrote:

Louis Agresta wrote:

Tr is indeed Thursday. Are you thinking you'd like to join the game?

Very much so. Have you been able to get a start date and time frame (time everyone should be there to when we need to head out lol)? Oh, and if the times good would ya like me to see if a friend or two can join up?

How about next Thursday 3pm? If that's too early, let me know. Store closes 9pm but will stay open to 10pm for us most nights. I like 6 hour sessions or so. And absolutely, friends of yours would be welcome. Let me know how many, as I don't want the table to be over 6.

I think we're at 4 (including you - not including any friends) now.

I'm getting excited!

I'll see if I'll be free but barring any unknowns I should be good. I might be able to get atleast one of my friends, our local card shop was closed so I wasn't able to chat with anyone yet lol. I'll keep ya posted on that. In any case, I'll be wearing a dragon hat for easy ID.

Louis Agresta wrote:

Tr is indeed Thursday. Are you thinking you'd like to join the game?

Very much so. Have you been able to get a start date and time frame (time everyone should be there to when we need to head out lol)? Oh, and if the times good would ya like me to see if a friend or two can join up?

I think we're at 4 (including you - not including any friends) now.

I'm getting excited!

Wagner is AWESOME. His Kane books, the novels especially, are marvelous. They helped define Sword and Sorcery post pulp. Don't miss them.

IMO Lin Carter is not a bad take on Conan, if you're passing REH.

Louis Agresta wrote:

andrew berthiaume wrote:

I'm prob the closest without living there lol. I live in Kingston, about a 15-30 min drive, depending lol. The only issue is that I can't drive. But I do know where your trying to have it. I love Dragon's Den. I'd be more then willing to try and help ya out.

Edit: And the thought of meeting fellow paizonians is a nice bonus lol.

Well, I'll certainly let you know when the game is going to be, just in case. It's starting to look like a Mon. or Tr. In my happiest world it starts Tr at around 3 or 4pm. In my next happiest Tr. around 6pm and the the game moves to a second location and continues after the store closes.

Still waiting to hear from players, but as of now it looks like 3 are lined up, including Greengrunt, who plans to drive 3 hours from Binghamton to play! That dude is one hardcore Paizonian!

Would Tr stand for Thursday? If so then I might have a slight prob as thats when I normally have my own game run lol. I could prob move it to Wensday. Either day should work out for me.

Blackdirge wrote:

I'm actually using the name of this book and its companion PC Pearls as the names of two regular features in Level Up.

Bah! That silly GM Gems was nothing compared to the inexhaustible wisdom contained in PC Pearls! Why, without the advice of Lord Bedlam Havok to make it shine like that magnificent Collection of Character Inspiration does, Gems is hardly much of a book at all!

It's more like ... not ... a book. For crappy jerks!

And yet...and yet...

PC Pearls languishes, a mere 5-star popular copper pick on RPGNow. *sigh* Worse - Lord Havok's pearls languish, in need of loving attention from his adoring populace...er...that didn't come out right.

Update:

GM Gems sold so well in 2008 it made number 70 on RPG COUNTDOWN'S BEST OF 2008 SPECIAL.

And that's just using RPG Now's numbers, I think if we'd had the Paizo numbers Gems would have risen a few slots higher.

Project lead, Steve Greer, gives a brief interview.

If you're an RPG author, editor, developer or publisher and your product is on that list, get ta link pimpin'!

Not for nothing -- because I like what you're doing here! -- but keep an eye on Sinister Adventures next month for something to add...

I am going to be running an adventure for some children (mine and friends') between the ages of 8 and 13. I need some help, though, from the community at large. What I would prefer is a 3.5e first level adventure that centers, in part, around a farmhouse or farm.

Y'see, I've got several of the new WotC scarecrow minis I just CAN'T wait to use.

The problem is that I need a map, at least, if not a full blown adventure. (I could probably work up an adventure on my own, if I need to, but I really really need the map.) Any suggestions you may have for pre-made maps or map-tiles would be appreciated.

Maybe the wizard/farmer fell and hurt himself and many of his scarecrows have been acting up in town and causing problems crazy, slapstick mayhem. No one knows what to do with them and the scarecrows can't speak, but really the scarecrows are trying to get help.

Make a scarecrow gone bad villain and his cohorts holding the cornfield hostage. Throw in an injured bear beset by evil poachers. Let the bear befriend the kids on the way to the farm then help them rid the corn maze of the evil scrarecrow, free the wizard, and they all get invited to live with him in the farmhouse so he's never alone again.

Something like that -- or whatever best suits your kids.

Good luck!

I see there's a thread about an Albany Gameday over at ENWorld. Anyone thinking of going?

Cool! Thanks for the feedback. One more Question...do you NEED the Great City supplement to run the adventures or are they just recommended?

This sounds interesting! Just ordered it from Lulu along with the sourcebook yesterday.

Daigle and Oppedisano did chpt 3
Tim Hitchcock wrote chpt 5
And Brendan Victorson and Liz Courts wrote the conclusion.

I'm prob the closest without living there lol. I live in Kingston, about a 15-30 min drive, depending lol. The only issue is that I can't drive. But I do know where your trying to have it. I love Dragon's Den. I'd be more then willing to try and help ya out.

Edit: And the thought of meeting fellow paizonians is a nice bonus lol.

Still waiting to hear from players, but as of now it looks like 3 are lined up, including Greengrunt, who plans to drive 3 hours from Binghamton to play! That dude is one hardcore Paizonian!

So...how similar is this to CoT?

Lou,

If it was a Saturday, the misses and I would travel all the way from Central CT to game with you. Weekdays are just rough for us.

Who do we have to contact to petition for Saturday game?

Hey, I always wondered if you took your board name from the Nightside books?

Im gauging interest for now, if we get enough people interested we'll take it from there.

Thinking one of the Paizo APs, 3.5 or PFRPG rules. etc.

Late Edit- Staten Island, Bronx, and Long Island residents welcome. I just figured Brooklyn, Queens, and manhattan middle-ground enough for all.

I'm like, 1.5 hours away. But I might be able to drop in for a weekend or something! If there's a gameday or summat, please let me know. That would be awesome.

I WANT! Hmmmm... any news on the other Sinister products? Have any of the big ones been published yet like that future sci-fi setting?

If you get desperate enough to travel, you're welcome to my Liberty group. We play on Sundays.