[Debian GNU/Linux] Epiphany Slowness - solution found!

My tumblr-hosted technical blog appears to have disappeared into the aether, so I'm going to be posting more non-gaming stuff here. If you're into gaming posts only, you'll want to read only the material with the RPGBloggers label. That'll keep you on top of my gaming strangeness.

My laptop runs Debian GNU/Linux. With the latest update, my favorite web-browser Epiphany is slow as a goat on the initial load of a web page from a given domain. Once we get the PAINFULLY SLOW first page loaded up, further requests to that domain load up lickety-split. So, it was looking like a DNS issue...

Tech details after the break!

[Review] Pink Lady Apples

No, this is not a gaming post. I'm trying to remember specifics about which kinds of apples I enjoy. Hence, the creation of these posts about various breeds of apple and how they make my mouth feel. You can skip this if you're not into food like I am.

However, the format for this post will mirror other review-style for future posts. Each review will consist of 5 categories, and each category gets a grade from 0 - 20. Total review metric is the summation of all the category's scores. Dig it...

[LotR] Song of Arda - A Dwimmer & An Enchantment

Well, I can't wait for Cubicle 7's new Hobbit RPG. I'm in the process of using the One Roll Engine (ORE for short) for playing in Middle-earth. I'm calling it "Song of Arda." Not original, I know, but I like it.

ORE is the same ruleset for REIGN and Wild Talents and Nemesis, among a couple of others too.

This post is specifically about MAGIC. I'm using 4 types of magic, all using the same rules from Wild Talents Miracle creation. Each has a slightly different flavor and power level. These are lifted from other LotR rpg's out there.

Spell-craft & Spells: lower-powered, more personal magic.
Dwimmer-craft & Dwimmers: more powerful, larger scope.
Enchantment: Even bigger, long lasting too.
Lore-craft & Secrets: Crafting items and stuff usually magical stuff.

So, below are one dwimmer and one enchantment, both Attack magic. Flame of Anor is a dwimmer used by those who serve the Secret Fire as Gandalf does. Fires of Udun is an enchantment and sorcery used by those who serve the Shadow. These have been adapted from the Decipher Lord of the Rings RPG.

I've added some Extras and Flaws. I'll explain some of those in another post. Just wanted to show people what I'm working on.

Flame of Anor (1 Point per die)

This dwimmer, one of the most powerful weapons the Wise have against the Shadow, projects a bolt of white light bright enough to pierce any gloom. The beam harms on the servants of the Enemy – ranging from Nazgul to Orcs – and other evil creatures as well. The bolt does Width+2 in Shock and Killing plus Burn and Daze and can Penetrate 1 HAR. Flames can be extinguished with Coord + Athletics roll. This requires one action to attempt and can be attempted only once each round.

Attack+2: Capacity: Range, Burn +2, Daze +1, Penetration +1, Chants & Gestures -1, Exhaustion -2, Can be Extinguished -1, Direct Feed -2, Only vs. Shadow -1

Fire of Udûn (5 Points per die)

This sorcery calls upon the fearsome power of the underworld, Udûn, to consume in flame every living thing in its path, whether friend or foe. It produces a sphere of fire 30 feet in radius anywhere in Range. Each creature in the area suffers Width+2 Shock and Killing, plus Burn and 3 Area Dice.

Attack: Capacity: Range, Radius +2, Burn +2, Area +3, Traumatic +3, Base Will Cost -4, Direct Feed -2, Exhaustion -2, Chants -1

[MetaGame] How would you stat prehensile hair?

One of the fun aspects of the gaming hobby is getting to translate characters from comics and fiction into game. I read all kinds of comics, and have enjoyed all kinds of supers-oriented games. So, the $50k question: if I were to stat up, say Medusa from the Marvel Universe for an RPG excursion, how would you do it?

[IMCotD] Gygax Ascension Day

(9:21:52 AM) Gerall: Ernest Gary Gygax (July 27, 1938 – March 4, 2008)
(9:23:52 AM) Kevin: ah.
(9:24:19 AM) Kevin: that's a friday. I should have that off.
(9:24:29 AM) Kevin: we should game that day. :)
(9:25:18 AM) Kevin: or roll up a 1st ed. ad&d character.
(9:27:03 AM) Gerall: Boss: "What do you need that day off for?"
Gerall: "Gygax Ascension Day..."
(9:28:29 AM) Kevin: yep. good name for it.
(9:28:57 AM) Gerall: we need to create some 1st ed ADnD characters and post them to the blog
(9:29:26 AM) Kevin: sounds good.
(9:50:44 AM) Gerall: i get to play the gnome illusionist!! COLOR SPRAY!!
(9:51:55 AM) Kevin: sounds like after the scourge. true?
(9:52:28 AM) Gerall: i haven't gotten the urge to Gnome it up out of my system yet.
(9:53:01 AM) Kevin: "gnome it up" lol
(9:53:39 AM) Kevin: gnome: verb. To hit a person with a Color Spray.
(9:53:49 AM) Gerall: LOL

[Android OS] Tablets and Aesthetics

For those who may not be aware, I am a gadget junkie. Free Software advocate wouldn't be an inaccurate description for me either. Given this combination of interests, I've gone bonkers over the latest batch of tablets using the Android OS. I have a ViewSonic gTablet (currently loaned out to another gamer), and a Samsung Galaxy Tablet. Given these differing devices, I've come to a few conclusions about my personal sense of "portable computing aesthetics". Enjoy my ranting after the break!

[BRP] Chronicles of Future Earth, the setting that almost was...

Sarah Newton is more creative and prolific in her writing than anyone has a right to be. I was brought into her development of the The Chronicles of Future Earth via quiet PM on the BRP Central forum, and was astonished.

This release from Chaosium is only about one-third (one-quarter?) the material Sarah had intended to shoe-horn between its covers. She's documented a far-future world populated with miracle technology, sorcery, and an Immortal God-Emperor ruling The Venerable Autocracy of Sakara. The monstrous Gene Wolfe vibe makes me squee.

Add to this that the Autocracy's capitol city Korudav is approximately five times the area of Glorantha's Pavis (including the Rubble!), and you'll begin to sense the tremendous breadth of setting here. I've seen her full-maps of a re-envisioned Urth, not just the snippet included in this release. I am happily paging through my copy of this now (purchased from Chaosium's website - in the interest of full disclosure), and am enjoying fitting this wonderfully unique bit of gaming into my imagination.

My hope is that this supplement will prove popular enough that Chaosium looks upon the scraps on their cutting-room floor with future interest. I haven't spoken with Sarah Newton much (since I deleted my Facebook account), but I wish her well with her new position at Cubicle 7. Given her momentum for the project two years ago, and the horrid time she endured waiting for the manuscript to see the light of day, I can only imagine she's moved on. Ah well.

Fun facts to know and tell: there's an adventure set in TCoFE already in print! Take a look at Sarah's submission in the BRP Adventures book. Yeah, I'm obsessive. So what?

[Android] Blogger's Android client - finally!

This will help me get ideas into the blog, no doubt. Here's something simple from my tablet. Vaati Monks, and a tribe of dragon-tainted centaur wandering the central Flanaess on Greyhawk have kept me writing. Plus, the deeply baroque effort on Wanderer hasn't stopped.
Hang in there! There is lots more to come.