I got your page suggestion and joined. Made suggestions from others, so hopefully it'll catch on for you. :)
I got your page suggestion and joined. Made suggestions from others, so hopefully it'll catch on for you. :)
Thanks! I could end up being like a virus. I've certainly been called worse. :)
The PDF Versatile Performance Redux entered the final editing stages today. It will be available to Quid Novi? subscribers this Sunday, March 21.
Huzzah!
:)
This new subscriber-only PDF presents an alternative system for Versatile Performance that draws upon terminology related to music, dance, and acting. For example, a bard could learn Accelerando. This ability lets the morale bonus provided by Inspire Courage apply to Reflex saves instead of saves against charm and fear effects. Furthermore, when the bard reaches 6th level, affected allies gain a +5-foot bonus to base speed.
The amazingly talented Darren Calvert sent me some of the art he's doing for The Case of the Purloined Princess. I posted them over at the Spes Magna Games site.
Gaze upon his works, ye mighty, and be wowed!
Every issue of Quid Novi? features some recommended reading. I posted March's reading recommendations over at the Spes Magna site.
Enjoy!
What's new with Spes Magna Games? Good question! Pop by the site to find out.
:)
I'm going to perform rhinoplasty on myself starting tonight. Yes, that's right. Do-it-yourself nose-jobs. Metaphorically speaking, of course. Read about it at the Spes Magna Games site.
Hop over to the Spes Magna site to read about Mark's Musings and how writer/director Richard Kelly ruined a great short story.
The next Quid Novi? newsletter comes out this Sunday. If you're not a subscriber, now's a good a time as any time to become one. Subscriptions for Quid Novi? are always free (excepting the cost of an email address in order to sign up).
I recently started reading W. B. Yeats again after finding my paperback collection of his works. This poem provides inspiration for a short adventure synopsis featured in the next newsletter:
"The Song of Wandering Aengus" by W. B. Yeats
I went out to the hazel wood,
Because a fire was in my head,
And cut and peeled a hazel wand,
And hooked a berry to a thread;
And when white moths were on the wing,
And moth-like stars were flickering out,
I dropped the berry in a stream
And caught a little silver trout.
When I had laid it on the floor
I went to blow the fire a-flame,
But something rustled on the floor,
And some one called me by my name:
It had become a glimmering girl
With apple blossom in her hair
Who called me by my name and ran
And faded through the brightening air.
Though I am old with wandering
Through hollow lands and hilly lands,
I will find out where she has gone,
And kiss her lips and take her hands;
And walk among long dappled grass,
And pluck till time and times are done
The silver apples of the moon,
The golden apples of the sun.
Read more about Quid Novi? at the Spes Magna Games website.
I was up at about seven this morning. I did the dishes. I started the laundry. I sat down and started writing. By eleven, I had Quid Novi? IX finished and in the email queue for early Sunday morning. I got an email telling me that Game Geek #5 from Avalong Game Company is now on sale for $1 US. Among other things, it features my second regular column, this one about using real world history as a starting point for a sandbox-style campaign.
It seemed like a good idea to take a break. The wife had gone to the grocery store. We put away groceries. Giant Boy and I climbed into the car to head to Target to purchase few other items, including a small book shelf from Giant Boy's room. While were gone, the girls started working on lunch. Christopher and I got back. We put his shelf together. While my daughter was slicing an apple, she cut through the meaty part of her right thumb's tip. In an instant, the day went from pleasant to craptacular.
Christopher and wife Katrina performed admirably under pressure. When an emergency hits, I can bark orders like nobody's business. I discovered that, yes, my aging Toyota can hit 80 miles per hour on the highway. Adrienne's cut's a bad one. She and Katrina are still at the ER after nearly four hours. Katrina just told me the doctor is seeing them.
At the ER, when we were told it would be two hours before a doctor would see Adrienne, Katrina inquired about getting something for Adrienne for her pain. In a hospital full of highly trained medical personnel, there wasn't a single person we could find qualified to make the weighty decision to give my daughter a couple of Tylenol.
If bureacracy has an alignment, it's closer to lawful evil than anything else.
I hit a nearby gas station and bought a bottle of water and some Tylenol. Back in the ER, I gave the Tylenol to Adrienne, who worried that I was doing something wrong. How quickly people can accept the senseless limitations imposed on them by others. Before leaving the ER to head back home, leaving Katrina with Adrienne, I told Katrina:
"When you see the doctor, tell him I gave Adrienne some Tylenol. If he doesn't like that, tell him that your husband said, 'Kiss my ass.'"
Of course, I doubt seriously Katrina would do this. She's the filter on my too loud internal monologue.
The bottom line is that further progress on Spes Magna projects has been derailed for at least today. Of course, there're still some points of interest. Rewarding Roleplaying remains on sale. If you're not subscribed to Quid Novi?, you can sign up for our newsletter. If you get that done early enough today, you'll not miss Issue IX being emailed to you. Visit the site for more information about Rewarding Roleplaying and Quid Novi?. You can also become a Spes Magna Facebook fan.
Yes, you too can enjoy Spes Magna Games PDFs in the privacy of your own home!
Two Products in One!
Purchase two PDF products in one for $0.75 US. Latina Facta includes 15 new feats based on Latin sayings. Versatile Performance Redux introduces an alternate Versatile Performance class feature for bards.
Here's a sample feat from Latina Facta:
Lux et Veritas (General)
Light and truth.
Prerequisite: Ability to cast any spell with the light descriptor.
Benefit: When you cast a spell with the light descriptor, you gain a +4 bonus to Perception and Sense Motive checks as long as you are in the area of effect of the spell.
And here's a sample bit from Versatile Performance Redux:
Faking (Ex) Faking is a term used when someone actually does a legitimate move, but does not understand what took place. A bard uses Faking and 1 round of Bardic Performance to feint in combat with a Perform (dance) check instead of a Bluff check. A 6th-level bard can use Faking as a move action rather than a standard action.
Caveat: Latina Facta and Versatile Performance Redux were previously available for free to Quid Novi? subscribers. If you're one of the lucky ones who've already downloaded these, there's no need to purchase them.
Help Your Players Be Better Roleplayers!
Spes Magna Games also offers Rewarding Roleplaying for $1.50 US. This add-on works with nearly any d20 System game. Rewarding Roleplaying links player-defined roleplaying goals with a robust Action Point system.
Rewarding Roleplaying has received nothing but positive feedback so far (visit here for examples), including this review (excerpted from this thread):
A no frills, but excellent written release I must say. I've always enjoyed using Action Points in a game (originally introduced to them via WotC's Eberron Campaign). This product offers an alternate solution by using action points to reward players for roleplaying instead of XP.
It recommends certain social contracts between the GM and the PC on a per session and also at the campaign level and if met, APs are awarded. It offers a twist on the the way it is expended and regained that is a variant of what some of you may be accustomed to from other settings that use them.When I say there's no frills, it isn't meant to be disparaging. Simple b/w artwork, single wide-column, but aesthetically readable font-type. Mark has a writing and presentation style that is polished and concise. After a good introduction, you get the feeling that you're really learning something (I picked up a few new words in latin based on their etymology) as well as examples and a couple of footnotes. If you make a Perception check, you can notice that there's a (sl/dr)y sense of humor subtly peeking through the contents.
You can tell that the author has an editorial and teaching background easily upon the first read of this release. Once you've finished it (11 pages, but 8 being the main context), the concept he proposes is easy enough to comprehend and worth giving it a shot.
This is primarily a release directed toward GMs, but if you're one of those individuals that have been frustrated by how a campaign (whether from the position of the GM or the PC) has been going based on XP awards being slanted toward certain types of players, then this is the release for you to acquire and perhaps even build on from it.
.... It's a five star from me.
Visit Our Purchase Page Today!
Both PDFs can be purchased at the Spes Magna Games Purchase Page. Remember: Quid Novi? subscribers get one-third off the cover price on all Spes Magna products, and everything we sell has a money-back guarantee.
<grumbles about the lack of a 'like' button>
;)
<grumbles about the lack of a 'like' button>
Head over to the Spes Magna Facebook page and click every like link you see. That should help satisfy your thumbs up craving. :)
More information about Man-Day's new "We're Not In Kansas Anymore!" campaign has been posted at the Spes Magna Games website. This new campaign takes five normal, 21st-century people and transports them to the fantastic land of the Four Communities.
On site, you can now find...
...a summary of the first session.
...a rough map of the Four Communities.
...a summary of what the PCs have learned about the region's major factions.
In other news, Spes Magna Games will soon have its own storefront at Paizo.com. The initial paperwork is being processed. Look for the announcement of this earth-shattering event in a future blogpost. More hyperbole may also be included.
I've also completed another column for Game Geek, this time looking at some common defenses against the supernatural that can be included in just about any d20 System game.
Moving over to non-game stuff, I've posted Secrets of Marriage Men (Part 3) and continued with my Houston Religion & Politics Examiner series of articles.
Enjoy!
"My bard yells, 'Cut!'"
For a limited time, you can receive Spes Magna's Latina Facta & Versatile Performance Redux for free. That's a hard price to beat for a PDF that offers 15 new feats based on Latin sayings and an alternate Versatile Performance class feature for Pathfinder bards. Hop over to the Free Product Offer page to take advantage of this offer.
Man-Day's "We're Not In Arkansas Anymore!" campaign takes five ordinary 21st century men and plunges them into a Pathfinder-rule world of fantasy and adventure. My most recent blog posts at the Spes Magna site talk about some of the major geographic features of the Four Communities region as well as the influential Recondite Order. Click over for a tour, but watch out for the monstrous spiders.