I got to play Magic: The Gathering with @jteberhard!

I got to play Magic: The Gathering with JT Eberhard the other day! We used the Cockatrice program, and it was pretty cool. Jen has always said he's a great guy, and it was really neat to sit there and toss cards out with an icon of the modern atheist movement. We did an Avacyn Restored draft and played a couple games of Legacy format.

Here's the deck I use:

Land:
20x Plains

Artifacts:
3x Throne of Empires
3x Crown of Empires
3x Scepter of Empires

Enchantments:
1x Cathars' Crusade

Instants:
4x Disenchant
2x Enlightened Tutor

Creatures:
4x Ballyrush Banneret
4x Daru Warchief
3x Field Marshal
3x Veteran Swordsmith
2x Captain of the Watch
1x Gerrard Capashen
1x Darien, King of Kjeldor
1x Longbow Archer
2x Goldnight Commander
3x Veteran Armorer

The deck revolves around using the Empires set to general a plethora of 1/1 Soldier tokens that turn out to be 3/6 Soldier tokens with first strike and vigilance. The addition of Cathars' Crusade has made the deck very potent very quickly with the addition of counters - I may be adding a second at some point. I keep a few other enchantments in my sidedeck, just in case, as well as a couple spare creatures. I intend to get a playset of Longbow Archers soon, to replace the Veteran Armorers. This gives me the ability to defend against flying creatures, which are featured in several opposing decks here.

Anyway, if anyone ever wants to play on Cockatrice, let me know!

The coolest video game ever

Seriously, this is incredible.

Artemis is designed for anyone who watched Star Trek and dreamed of what it would be like to sit on the bridge of a star ship...everyone tends to snap into their role and share the information coming to them from their station while interacting with the crew and captain. The Helm station flies the Artemis. The Weapons station controls your offensive powers. Engineering moves power and handles repairs. Science can scan enemy ships and share intel. Communications allows you to interact with both enemy and friendly ships. Each station has information that must be shared with the rest of the crew to keep the ship healthy and flying.

The game costs $40 and you need 6 computers if you intend to play with all 6 stations (and why the hell wouldn't you?). Requirements are really low so you can bust out your old rigs to make the game work if needed. You also need a decent sized tv or a projector to serve as the view screen. Yes, you get a view screen.

The Penny Arcade article goes into this game in great depth, but what's really cool is that you can design your own missions and download custom mission packs. Upon realizing this game existed, I had a little geek-out session, waving my arms around with a big smile on my face. My friends very quickly called positions - science, helm, tactical, engineering, communications.

Which means I will get to be captain. This game is going to take a little setup time, but I have no doubt in my mind this will be $40 damn well spent.

I wrote this as an exercise...

So, I recently replayed several titles in the Zelda series, and one of the best is Link to the Past, the Super Nintendo version of the classic game. This game is beautifully set up - colourful, vibrant, and with intense and exciting gameplay. Replaying it was like opening a window to my childhood and stepping through it; like few things really can, the sounds and sights that dominated my Christmas and after back in 1989 really took me back.


So I was thinking about it, and imagining one of the more climactic scenes, when Link enters the Lost Woods to reclaim the Master Sword, and what that might have been like "rein-acted" using the new information about the series. Also, I was bored at work. Story below the jump.

Expedition to Undermountain: The Introduction

This passage is the description I gave my online party for the campaign they are about to embark on. I'm placing it here for future reference...and to share with all of you!

The City of Splendors; the Jewel of the Sword Coast; the Lord's City; all of these are nicknames for the independent city of Waterdeep, the largest in the North of Faerun. Built on a natural harbour, surrounded by a heavy wall, dominated by Mount Waterdeep and the castle above it, but protected most importantly by its famous inhabitants, Waterdeep is a city that can spawn a thousand and more adventures, without ever straying from the protection of its walls.

The city is rules by the mysterious Lords of Waterdeep, a cadre of sixteen rulers who, save one, rule in secret. The Open Lord of Waterdeep speaks for the Lords in all things, including foreign diplomacy; the current Open Lord is Piergerion the Paladinson, a famous holy knight who has been Open Lord for quite a long time. The other Lords appear, always, hooded, cloaked, and masked, and look like uniformly similar humans in splendid purple regalia. Though the names of the Lords are officially unknown, many whisper names like Mirt the Moneylender, Texter, and until recently, Khelban "Blackstaff" Arunsun, who removed his helm at a Lord's Dinner and announced his retirement as a secret Lord.

Favourite RPGs.

I love RPGs, completely honestly and truly. There's something to be said for essentially playing through a story, and most modern RPGs (SNES and later) are as complex as a good novel, with characters you can feel empathy for. To me, it's an interactive reading experience with sometimes neat effects and graphics, a truly rewarding feeling. So, perhaps it's time I list some of my favourite RPGs of them all.

**Warning. Spoilers may follow.**