Why BattleNet 2.0 Is Ruining Starcraft 2 Explained-- WITH KITTENS!

Controller Company teams with Video Gamer With MS To Make Video Games More Accessible

Steve Spohn has from muscular dystrophy. He is also an avid gamer. With a bag of rice, some duct tape and Xbox 360 controller parts, he is working with a video game accessory company to keep himself in the game.

Arizona-based Evil Controllers specializes in modding video game controllers to make them accessible to gamers that have special needs. Steve's prototype X-box controller is modular. That means that every input component, from the buttons to the directional pads to the thumb-sticks can be positioned and repositioned however the user needs. They also have created a set of buttons that employ the use of mobility Steve has by rigging another pair of buttons that are activated when he shrugs his shoulders.

The controller in the video below is a prototype of a model Evil Controller hopes to produce and mass market.

Accessibility in video games is something that I think both game developers-- and more importantly, console manufacturers-- sorely need to improve upon.

The big thing in gaming from Nintendo's WiiMotion, Sony's Playstation Move and Microsoft's Project natal are all about encouraging people to control a video game by getting up and moving around. While it is an exciting and immersive development, it's not very inclusive to the disabled community.

You'd figure that increasing the user base for video game would be a good thing! Larger audience means more money, right? While I understand the economic realities of making and manufacturing different peripherals might incur extra espense, there are some things that seem like a no-brainer to me. Like closed captioning in all games with speech. A mode for colorblind players (I have seen this in PopCap Games' Peggle series and wondered why more companies don't do this). And... more I probably can't think of.

What about you, members of the gamer and disability community? What would you like to see?

Signal boost: Your Money Where Your Mouth Is Edition

From Nick Mahatmas' blog:

"I noticed that the Readercon programming schedule is up and that there is to be a panel on racial diversity and cover art. Further james_nicoll has collected a couple of links about the malaise in science fiction—either there is no science, or the science is just a magical Singularity of nanotech and bad manners and rudeness toward sexbots or something.

To all of which I can only respond:



The Next Continent


I mean, the people who complain about whitewashed covers are going to be interested in books with accurate covers, are they not? The readers hmmphing about the lack of realistic hard science are surely going to be interested in a novel about a private mission to the moon, neh? So I can Bookscan my title here every week and see the regional buying patterns change based on the publicly announced pent-up demand for both near-term hard SF and stuff that's reflective of the ethnic diversity of the planet in some way, yah?

Because I'm gonna start tracking you all. "

New Retro Review Up

I have a new Retro Review up, this time giving an in-depth look at one of the Nintendo Game Boy Advance's swan-song RPGs... Summon Night: Swordcraft Story 2.

Jake Gyllenhaal Stole Gamer's Video Game and Identity

... metaphorically.

Sara Haghdoosti is a 22-year-old Iranian-Australian feminist writer, active with GetUp! Australia, and has been a lifelong fan of the the Prince of Persia video game series, ever since the very first game for the PC.

So she was very excited when the Prince of Persia movie was first announced... and then very disappointed when the movie was first released.
Why does she feel the Prince of Persia movie took computer games the she loved as a child and ruined them in a movie based on those video games as an adult?

She explains:

"As a child I loved the computer games. They weren’t just fun, they gave me an easy way to talk to and relate to others over something that was special to me and my heritage. As an adult, I feel like the movie has totally wiped out that aspect of it. The movie has reduced my identity, my heritage and my cultural background to lighting and make up.

Why should we care about the casting of the latest Hollywood epic action film? Castings of movies like the ‘Prince of Persia’ are important because we know that media images have profound impacts on our identities. "

Nick Mahatmas also explains and points out that the physical and cultural identities are whitewashed or papered over in his review of the film. To wit:

"Are non-white characters being played by white people? Of course! Everyone already knows that Jake Gyllenhaal is the titular Prince Dastan, but he's not the only blue-eyed Persian in this flick. There's two older brothers, one a blue-eyed guy who looks sort of like a Mormon Jesus Christ, and another, angrier brother who is at least dark-complected, but he looks more like Zack de la Rocha than anything else. (Next up for Disney—Martin Mull IS Barack Obama in The Audacity of Hope: The Imax Experience.)... Persia is a pretty neat place, actually. Maybe one day someone will make a cool fantasy movie about it. "

M. Night Shamalyan-directed The Last Airbender, the live-action movie based on the Nickeloden cartoon Avatar: The Last Airbender, has encountered similar protests and charges of erasing and whitewashing all of the pan-Asian influences of the show-- changing the Chinese calligraphy to nonsense glyphs, and casting all of the principal lead characters, who were Asian in the show, white white actors instead. There has even been an activist group, Racebending that has been writing about and addressing the controversy for nearly two years.

What do you think we can do, as gamers and as activists and people who care, about the distressing tendency of whitewashing or under-representation? Will you vote with your wallet? Write letters? Speak out to your friends? Or if it doesn't affect you, do you say it's not a big deal? Why does or does it not matter to you?

You left me outside and now you want in

Blogger yeloson talks about some of his personal frustrations regarding fandom and racial cluelessness. An excerpt:

A few years back, I went to GenCon, the largest tabletop roleplaying convention in the US. I arrived excited and eager to play, and a little sad my friends whom I had attended ComiCon weren't with me. I had just gotten out of the registration line and saw a person dressed up in blackface as a drow/dark elf. I flashed back just about 4 days before when a friend of mine had to leave ComiCon, completely shaking with hurt because someone thought it would be cool to get in blackface to dress up as Storm from the X-men.

The day before I flew back, I saw a newspaper headline, "Blacks are leaving Indianapolis, feel unwelcome". I wonder why?

I began to start looking hard at my hobby. Everything from artwork to social circles and the behaviors around it. I tried to start up conversations. Conversations with people who were intelligent, who I knew personally, who had no problem analyzing social behavior and how it affected play (after all, a roleplaying game is nothing but a group socially deciding imaginary stuff...).

But those conversations failed.

At first I thought I wasn't approaching it correctly, I tried different tacks, from talking about the raw representation of the artwork, to the historical issues of blackface, to, well... everything.

But see, my mistake wasn't that I was talking to intelligent, well read people - it was that I was continuing to mistake ignorance on the part of intelligent, well read people as unintentional. I was giving benefit of the doubt to the people who had the least excuse to be ignorant of both history and media. It wasn't not knowing, it was choosing not to know.

Instead of turning their minds to a legitimate question, "Hey, how did I NOT notice that all the bad guys are dark, or that the language used around orcs = the language used on native populations, or that even POC heroes are dehumanized with glowing eyes etc.?", instead the response was "You're crazy/reading too much into it/it's just a game/why do you care/you should find another hobby!"

That's right. "If you don't like it here, you can leave." And then they turn around and ask why there's so few POC in their hobby or their numbers are shrinking. (I went to GenCon SoCal that year, and all I saw were asian and hispanic kids playing Yu-Gi-Oh. I guess people of color aren't into geek stuff, right?)

But my story is not unique.

Read the whole post here.

Fantasy Novel: Amy Tan Meets Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

coffeeandink asked people to recommend books by people of color. She got a response from Cindy Pon:

i've got a YA asian fantasy coming out in
may : Silver Phoenix

when i met with a [sci fi/ fantasy] publisher
at a writing conference last year, he had read the first
12 pages and said to me : "why is this fantasy?
this is amy tan meets crouching tiger."
like it was a BAD thing.

also : "asian fantasy does not sell."

i was crushed.

Fortunately, another publisher bought the book, and Silver Phoenix: Beyond the Kingdom of Xia is coming out from HarperTeen in April. Seriously, "amy tan meets CTHD" sounds like an elevator pitch, not a rejection reason.

It's called Silver Phoenix: Beyond the Kingdom of Xia, and I just preordered it (thanks to trade-ins to Amazon's game trade). I'd suggest you check it out, too.

A qucik summary of RaceFail '09

What is RaceFail '09? daedala provided the shortest summary of RaceFail '09 here and it is as followed:

1. Elizabeth Bear writes a post about "how to write the Other"
2. Avalon's Willow critiques one of her books on racial tropes
3. Bear agrees unequivocally in writing
4. Commenters defend Bear in increasingly racist language.
5. Massive fail all over the internet.
6. Bear says that she was lying in 3. in order to model appropriate conversation.

But daedala's summary barely scratches the surface. Here are other more detailed, but still brief summaries of events:

» A reader's digest of RaceFail '09 by white_serpent, which dmarley kindly provided some contexts here.
» A summary of RaceFail '09 by withdiamonds.
» A Timeline (of the Great Cultural Appropriation Debate of Doom '09) (a summary of the beginning of RaceFail '09) by Willow.
» Because "tl;dr" shouldn't be an excuse (a summary of the middle and later part of RaceFail '09) by rydra_wong.
» Endangering somebody is okay when you do it under your real name (a summary of later events of RaceFail '09) @ unfunnybusiness.
» Racefail09: Just This (a summary of the beginning and later part of RaceFail '09) by mpoetess.

And here are a few longer overviews:

» A themed summary of RaceFail ‘09 in large friendly letters for those who think race discussions are hard by Ann Somerville.
» O HAI RACEFAILZ: Notes on Reading an Internet Conflict by tablesaw.
» I have stayed quiet about something for too long, and I am ashamed by popelizbet.

For a comprehensive overview though, rydra_wong has provided an almost chronological link list here and you could follow the discussion at her gcadod 09 tag. And among the many, many people who have spoken up about RaceFail '09 are asim, bossymarmalade, ciderpress, coffeeandink, deepad, helsmeta, inalasahl, nojojojo, oyceter, Seeking Avalon's Willow, shewhohashope, sparkymonster, spiralsheep, vito_excalibur, vom_marlowe, yeloson and zvi_likes_tv.

The reason it’s called RaceFail ’09 is to distinguish this from past incidents, and also to acknowledge that not only it is ongoing, but that this could happen again.

Does that worry you, too?

To quote Nick:

If the Fail is happening anyway—if havoc is already being wrecked in the hearts of authors and fans of color, if people who shouldn’t be driven out are already being driven out (or at least too damn close to out)—then I kind of want it to impinge on the space of as many white fans and authors as is humanly possible. Yes, it IS too high a price for mere education, but if the price is being paid regardless, let’s goddamn GET something for it. The more clueless-but-well-meaning white folk (I firmly include myself in this category) see the hurt being caused and start reading, thinking, and trying to understand the things being said by the myriad brilliant fans/authors/theorists of color (and allies!) involved here, the more likely it is that something will have changed by the time the next high-profile racial screw-up rolls ‘round.

Tabletop Gamers And A Social Contract

From TaoJeannes in the rpg.net forums, comes a great set of guidelines for both players and game masters that work for any system you decide to play with:

The GM Agrees That...
1. I will say "No" only when absolutely necessary to preserve the overall fun of the game for everyone. I will make it a goal not to say it even once.
3. I will provide each player with individual spotlight time as well as no more than 30 minutes total off-stage time.
4. I will maintain a strict and thick line between in-character and out-of-character behavior and attitude.
5. I will end on time.

The Player Agrees That...
1. I will preserve the PG-13 or below rating of the table and refrain from in-character or out-of-character behavior that is excessively racist, mysoginistic, violent, or sexual in nature.
2. I will avoid IC [in character] actions that ruin the fun for my fellow players, even if I am "just playing my character".
3. I will not excessively argue with the game master or other players over their IC or OOC (out of character) choices.
4. I will maintain a strict and thick line between in-character and out-of-character behavior and attitude.
5. I will refrain from off-topic chatter.

Beyond LARPing: Medieval Re-Enactment Village

The Regia Anglorum, is an English re-enactment society. The society maintains a wealth of information about life in medieval England using the virtual village of Wichamstow and its surroundings. They have in-depth articles on many of the crafts and trades that the villagers would have undertaken, and about the places they would live and work.

They have also created a real live medieval village and estate with which to demonstrate medieval craftsmanship.

Of course, if you you just want to cook like those in the medieval or Renaissance period you should check out http://www.godecookery.com for some fascinating and tasty recipes.

TOKYOPOP Pilot Program Rips Off, Talks Down To Artists

Subscribers to the TOKYOPOP e-newsletter recently saw the following announcement:

Manga Pilots: You Read and Review -- You Help Decide What We Publish!
TOKYOPOP is launching an exciting new stage in our manga development program -- and we need your help.

We want you to read, review, and tell us which TOKYOPOP Manga Pilots should be made into a full-length manga.

Click here to help TOKYOPOP develop the next generation of manga superstars!

In the Pilot Program, you come up with a great idea, you make a 24-36 page comic, they put it online with a bunch of other submissions, and "the people" decide who wins.Sounds like a new and exciting way for new talent to get exposure, right? However, a read through of the terms, conditions and artist's agreement reveals language that is insulting couching terms that are draconian (pdf).

Brian Lee O'Malley reviews the contract point by point, here are a few choice excerpts:

...they're writing this contract in a "hey dude" style to seem less evil and confusing, but this is just another tactic for evil and confusion.

...

Pilot Fee $____, payable in full when we receive and accept the Manga Pilot

That's a conspicuous blank. I'm not aware of just what they're offering. Are they asking you to put up your own number? What are they, Radiohead? Also, please note that whatever amount they're giving you, they aren't giving it to you until they receive and accept your comic - which is 24-36 pages, by the way, "inked, toned, ballooned, and lettered", not to mention that you'll be doing all the digital prepress. (If you're "only writing", you get off easy - just a manuscript.)

...

You promise to protect us from claims anyone makes that you violated their rights in connection with your Project or Manga Pilot. This means you’ll pay for all the lawyers to fight it out and all the other costs necessary to fend off those claims, in or out of court.
And, if things do get ugly and end up going to court, this means you’ll also pay for all the expert witnesses and court costs and, if the other guy or gal wins, you’ll pay whatever the court awards them, too.

This almost speaks for itself, but maybe a little example would make it clearer. Say, maybe, your comic becomes a huge success. You get movies and toys based on your characters. You might even start making some money. THEN someone comes forward and sues your ass for stealing your idea from him back in the sixth grade. You know, one of those multi-million dollar lawsuits. Let me tell you, judging from these contracts, Tokyopop is going to be holding all the million-dollar-bills at that point, not you. They'll have the huge percentage you negotiated away, and you'll be standing there with negative a million dollars.

...

WHAT WE CAN DO WITH YOUR CREDIT
And, speaking of your credit, customarily we give you credit for your work as the writer and/or artist of the Manga Pilot. However, we may have to shorten or leave out your credit when the space available or the conventions of a format won’t permit it or if it would have to be too small to read (for example, when the Manga Pilot is viewed on mobile phones). You’re OK with this.

This is even worse! "We don't have to put your name on your comic if we don't feel like it." Okay? That's what it says. I've seen this. Tokyopop ads that don't specify creators. You know, all their comics come from the same hive mind. All their creators are replaceable cogs in a giant machine.

AFTER THE EXCLUSIVE PERIOD OF THIS PACT ENDS
Once the Exclusive Period ends and even if you and we haven’t entered into an Original Property Agreement, we’ll still have the worldwide right, continuing forever, to publish the Manga Pilot on a non-exclusive basis.

If you realize that this means Tokyopop can continue making money from different versions of your 24-36 page comic (books, magazines, ipods, online advertising, whatever), while giving you 0% of that money, congratulations. You're correct.

Brian concludes:
"Listen to me: there are so many ways of getting your comics read by people. You can print them up on a photocopier, sell them at your local comic shop / record shop / independent bookstore. You can put them on the Internet - I believe you're all familiar with this invention. It costs very little and takes away none of your rights. Many of my good friends make their living entirely from having comics on the web. You don't need this."

Who stands to be lured in and hurt the most? Newcomers to manga publishing, or those so star-struck at the idea of working for TOKYPOP that they might not realize what they're signing away, says freelance writer and blogger Nadia:

For every aspiring novelist in the world, there are ten clip joints waiting to pounce, wrap and eat the writer's hopes. The linked establishment is a particularly horrible offender; not only does it lure in shy writers, it works to convince said writers that they'll never have a hope of publishing anywhere else. Then they do unspeakable things to the writer's rights and royalties with the help of a contract full of jargon and lies. I've known promising novelists who swore to never write again after being ground up by the machine.

These kinds of incidents are what let companies like Tokyopop get away with saying, "Hey guy, we're your friend! Dig this jargon-free contract!"

So what's the solution? Research and more research before even considering publication. Aspiring Tokyopop manga-ka have a huge head start thanks to this incident...

If you're excited about the prospect of breaking into the industry, that's understandable, but dump some cold water down your pants and think before you do anything. Is it worth writing, drawing, inking and toning 24-32 pages of manga for a paltry seven hundred? Is it worth getting nothing else from the revenue generated by your idea? Is it worth getting stuck with lawsuit bills from loonies who swear you stole their idea, while Tokyopop vanishes like Flagg, leaving only its clothes and a puff of smoke?

Unfortunately, someone will be taken in by this regardless, but the creative process is a leather-clad bitch with metal-studded rawhide lessons. Sometimes we learn best by, er, taking it. But if you can avoid heartache by talking to veterans and reading up on resources, do it. It's a long process that might snuff out your hopes, but that's only temporary because you can move on. Not only will you be doing yourself a favour, you'll be doing the community good by lessening the pool of desperate writers/artists that these companies feed on.

We'll never be filthy rich, dear freelancers, but there are still many publishers who want quality work and will pay a fair price for it. Don't be unrealistic, but don't settle for a paper full of weasel words.

A-friggin'-MEN.

Another clause that jumped out at me was the "DEFENDING YOUR WORK" section that read:

You promise to protect us from claims anyone makes that you violated their rights in connection with your Project or Manga Pilot. This means you’ll pay for all the lawyers to fight it out and all the other costs necessary to fend off those claims, in or out of court.

...because it's also a load of bunk. I am not a lawyer, but I can't see it standing in court. I mean, nobody is going to sue a Tokyopop artist-- they are going to go where the money is if they actually hope to recoup anything. Tokyopop is the company with assets (and asses) to be lost if the case isn't defended vigorously. I'd wager that all someone would need to do is to suggest in a deposition or in court that their editor was aware the rights weren't clear, and it won't matter what the creator signed. You don't get immunity from prosecution for illegal acts just by having someone sign a piece of paper!

Kevin Siembieda Calls Me "A Nasty Critic/Hater, Spreading Lies"; My Head Explodes

UPDATE: Kevin Siembieda has apologized; you can read his apology in the comments section. Thank you, Kevin.

In my recent Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles Review & First Impressions, I basically said the book looks good, the new art looks good, the rules have some welcome tweaks on one hand but don’t come close to genre emulation on the other, briefly discuss the “G.I. Joe rule change” and conclude by saying that the source book is still "the best you will have in North America as far as source material goes".

So, apparently there’s this clownboat that has a hate-on for me—he’s sniped at me before in stupid little forum posts over the years—and decides to “report” the post to Palladium—apparently trying to say that my quoting from the rule book verbatim in one paragraph is tantamount to reprinting large chunks of Palladium intellectual property. Blah blah blah fair-use-cakes, right?

So then I get a forwarded e-mail from said online loser entitled “Suck It, Hater!”. And that email contains a forwarded message to said clownboat from Kevin Siembieda himself! Here it is, in all its glory:

“Thanks for alerting us to this website. From what I could tell, he's a nasty critic/hater who is slamming us and tearing about the product, but I didn't see him using or reprinting our rules, stats, etc. Did I miss something.

Can't really do anything about jerks spreading lies and flaming Palladium and its products. Try not to let guys like this get to you.

Thanks again for the heads up. I appreciate your support.”

Wow.

So, apparently because I wrote a review of a product that said I liked some parts of it, but not other parts, the CEO OF PALLADIUM says I am a nasty critic/hater. And a liar.

Never mind that one of my roommates is a Megaversal Ambassador, that I practically drool with anticipation when our GM decides to run a Heroes Unlimited game, or that that I’ve played in a little over half a dozen RIFTS games run by fellow RPGX.org member Wraith. Who knew that all this time, I was actually a Palladium hater?

Can you imagine the CEO of any other company acting like this?

E-mails sent to staff last week asking for a comment were not returned.

RPGX at A-Kon 2008 in Dallas This Weekend

Just a reminder—you can meet members of the RPGX crew at the A-Kon anime convention in Dallas from May 31 to June 1st.

I’ll be wandering the convention on Saturday and Sunday in-between interviewing people, or setting up interviews, or taking notes at a panel. I’ll be waering a plain-white T shirt with the RPGX logo on the front.

Fellow RPGX member (and former roomie) Wraith should be haunting the tabletop gaming area and should be playing in two Palladium Robotech games run by an area Megaversal Ambassador.

My wife is returning to the Dealer’s Room, once again running her Green Dragon Candles ‘n’ More booth, selling scented candles & incense .

Other RPGXers, check in! Any other site fans, are you going to be there? Maybe we could organize some sort of meetup?

Scenes From a D&D Barbarian Campaign

So, my character, Par Vaartal The Dark, is a barbarian originally from the frozen north. The current campaign has the group of barbarian PCs plucked from around the world and dumped in a strange, almost tropical forest and plains. So, in addition to initial communication difficulties, there is also the geographical unfamiliarities.

Michelle's character, Dru, is a fierce warrior as well. The group was just jumped by a horde of Kobolds, and through a hard-fought battle, use of the death's door rule (where if you're healed quickly enough after your hit points drop below zero, you don't die), and our groups SOLE shaman healer, Par Vaartal is taken from near death to a whopping 3 hit points.

Dru wants to help. She is not a healer. She knows just enough to realize that the healer can't make another healing check unless there is a fresh wound to be healed. Dru approaches Par, and says "Do you trust me?"

Par nos, "Yes, of course!"

... only to be poked by Dru a second later with her dagger; after all, if she can make a tiny wound, then the healer can heal that, and perhaps gain Par a few more HP...

... and ends up doing maximum damage with her dagger: 4 points. PLUS her strength bonus.

So, of course, Par was a little leery of her when ever he saw her dagger.

In another irony, the healer used the last of her healing herbs.... and brought Par Vaartal back up to positive hit points.

TWO hit points total. So it was a net loss. ;)

But also one of the funniest moments in any campaign.

DIY D&D: Faerie Dragon PC Write-Up For Dungeons and Dragons (2nd Ed)

With the permission of her writer, I am pleased to share with you the write-up our gaming group uses for the Faerie Dragon as a PC Race. Enjoy.

Faerie Dragon (As a Player Character Race)

by the Awe-Inspiring Snowflake F. Dragon

Human Legend: A chaotic offshoot of the pseudo-dragon (though we all know this is not true), the Faerie Dragon lives in peaceful, tangled forests and thrives on pranks, mischief, and practical jokes. (Well, not really… We actually thrive on apples!)

Faerie Dragons resemble miniature dragons with thin bodies, long prehensile tails, gossamer butterfly wings, and hug smiles. (In other words… PHENOMENAL COSMIC POWER… In an industrial-sized package!) Their colors range through the spectrum, changing from the red of a hatchling to the black of a great wyrm. (Or whenever they feel like being fashionable with a new trend.) The hides of females have a golden tinge that sparkles in sunlight; males have a silver tinge. (Of course! More proof that females are more valuable!)

All Faerie Dragons can communicate telepathically with one another at a distance of up to two miles. (We’re still hunting down whoever let THAT secret out…) They speak their own languages, along with the language of sprites, pixies, elves, and the birds and animals in their area. (Well, duh!?! We ARE part fey after all! Sheesh…)

Faerie Dragons make their lairs in the hollows of high trees, preferably near a pond or stream, because they are quite fond of swimming and diving. (Okay, we can forgive the humans for this little flaw… They’re only human after all… Of COURSE we live in trees… Preferably apple trees… It’s just easier to get at’em that way… However, not all of us are that fortunate. Also, not ALL of us can swim, but we all love to dive… It helps in our aerial tricks.) They often live in the company of a group of pixies or sprites. (Actually, we live with whomever we choose! We ARE all powerful after all. We’re just seen more often with pixies and sprites because they know how to PAR-TAY!)

Faerie Dragons take advantage of every opportunity to wreak mischief on passers-by, frequently using forest creatures to help in their pranks. (Okay… NOW, I’m insulted! We do NOT take EVERY opportunity to “wreak mischief.” Only on those who deserve it!) Though many of these pranks are spontaneous, months of preparation can go into a single, spectacular practical joke. A tell-tale giggle, which sounds like the tinkling of tiny silver bells, often alerts potential victims to the presence of invisible Faerie Dragons. (That would be the males’ fault… They’re ticklish.)

Faerie Dragons eat fruit, (apples,) vegetables, (apples,) nuts, (apples,) roots, (apples,) honey, (dandelions,) and grains (and apples). They are especially fond of fruit (apple) pastries and have been known to go to great lengths to get a fresh apple pie. (Well, not any more since they started putting out Faerie Dragon Shrines on their windows.)

Statistic Adjustments: Due to our phenomenal powers, yet compact bodies, Faerie Dragons have the following adjustments to their Attributes:

-4 to Strength

+4 to Intelligence

-2 to Wisdom

+3 to Dexterity

+2 to Constitution

Basic Information: Here’s what’s common in the physical abilities of Faerie Dragons…

Alignment: Chaotic Good or Chaotic Neutral. (NO EVIL! That’s just nucky!)

Base Armor Class: 5

Base Number of Attacks: 1 (Usually by Breath Weapon, spell, or Bite for 1 – 2 points of damage.)

Diet: Herbivore

Hit Dice: Same as Class

Movement: 6, Flight 24 (A)

Size: “Tiny” (1’ to 1½’ tall.)

Natural Abilities: All Faerie Dragons are capable of the following… It’s just getting the right amount of “umph!” behind it that counts…

• -15% from all Experience Gained due to our phenomenal abilities.
• 1xDay per Level – Able to use Breath Weapon
  o A 2-foot diameter cloud of euphoria gas
  + A victim failing a Saving Throw vs. Breath Weapon will wander around aimlessly in a state of bliss for the next 3d4 minutes, during which time he is unable to attack and his Armor Class is decreased by 2. Even though he is unable to attack, the victim can keep his mind on the situation if he succeeds in an Intelligence Check each round; if he fails an Intelligence Check, he completely loses interest in the matters at hand for the duration of the breath weapon’s effect.
• Able to communicate telepathically with another Faerie Dragon at a distance of up to two miles. This is a natural ability, and non-psionic. (So, you squid faces and dehydrated platypuses can just stay away!)
• Able to speak (or converse) with any fey for Faerie Dragons know all their languages; They are fey after all.
• Able to turn invisible at will;A Faerie Dragon must make an Intelligence Check to remain invisible if they attack a victim.
• Any spell cast (regardless of what class or school it’s from) by the Faerie Dragon has the same chance to surge similar to a Wild Mage. (See Tome of Magic for Surge Chart.)
• Comeliness Statistic is actually considered “Cuteness.”
• Due to the number of Cantrip: Color spells that are available to Faerie Dragons, they are able to choose whatever color they wish to be. Most are usually a variety in colors.
• Due to their delicate frame and nature, Faerie Dragons are unable to wear armor and weapons are to be made especially for their small size (i.e., pixie bow).
• Gains 8% Magic Resistance per Level;Up to 96% MAXIMUM!
• Upon Character Creation, a Faerie Dragon must decide which natural “school” (cleric, druid, or wizard) their magic is based from. Each time their class increases, the amount of natural spells they are able to cast also increases. (Intelligence and Wisdom Bonuses do apply.) See chart below.

  
  Class Level     1  2  3  4  5  6*  7**
         1     1  ---  ---  ---  ---  ---  ---
         2     2  ---  ---  ---  ---  ---  ---
         3     2  1  ---  ---  ---  ---  ---
         4     3  2  ---  ---  ---  ---  ---
         5     3  2  1  ---  ---  ---  ---
         6     3  2  2  ---  ---  ---  ---
         7     3  3  2  1  ---  ---  ---
         8     3  3  3  2  ---  ---  ---
         9     4  3  3  2  1  ---  ---
         10     4  4  3  3  2  ---  ---
         11     4  4  4  3  2  ---  ---
         12     4  4  4  3  3  1  ---
         13     4  4  4  4  3  2  ---
         14     4  4  4  4  3  2  1
         15     4  4  4  4  4  2  1
  

These are spells to be treated similar to any other mage or priest spells in that 8 hours of rest is required to regain the energy to cast them, and the spells selected for the day.

Post any question or comments you have here

A Great resource for DMs: Gnome Stew

Wanted to give a little link-love to a site I discovered last week. It's called Gnome Stew.

It's a game mastering blog, written by GMs, for GMs. With 10 authors, Gnome Stew delivers system-neutral and system-specific content for game masters.

Here's a bit from a great recent article, 12 Ways To Use Google Apps at the Game Table:

Personally, I think Google Docs is one of the most powerful and useful applications that Google offers. It’s a basic word processor, spreadsheet and presentation program, but with the ability to share documents and have users edit them simultaneously and collaboratively. For instance, one of the simplest ways to use Docs is as a character sheet. Once it’s done, have your players share the character sheet with you and the other players. That way you can always access the most recent version of their characters. Now you can check their current Spot and Listen checks and don’t need to keep pestering them to update the hard copy that’s perpetually two levels behind. If one of your players misses a game, your group has a copy of their character ready to play.

Along a similar vein, you can share hireling and party NPCs among your group so that anyone can pop the sheet open and start running them.

Some more advanced usage might be to keep a collaborative party log. Nobody likes keeping a log, so let your players share the work. Changes to the document are shown in other people’s open documents nearly instantly, so when Suzie types in “Met Orc King,” John can update that to include the King’s name, and you can correct the spelling.

Loot tracking is another task that is sometimes viewed as tedious. A shared party loot tracking spreadsheet can share the load, and prevent the rogue from skimming off the top. (Sure, that’s in character. Jerk.)

If you’re busy (or lazy) you can create a house rules document but make your players do the work of entering the questions, changes and clarifications when they come up at the table.