Pagan Blog Project: Kind of Strange (parte the last for here)

Before I begin this post, I want to say what an honor it has been to do Pagan Blog Project with my blog Musings of a Lehigh Valley Guy.  It brought a whole new bunch of readers to my main blog.  I was afraid that this would supplant the main theme of nerdiness and understanding modern culture, sub-culture, and counter-culture, but it really didn't.  With that being said, I am switching over all Pagan/Religious topics to Once 'Round The Temple.  It is another blog that I have had and abandoned, but am bringing back.  At the same time that I am posting this here, I am posting this there.  After this post, Pagan Blog Project will no longer be posted at this blog, but at Once 'Round The Temple.  I hope those of you who are interested will keep reading this blog, a lot of fun will still be had here, from aboleths or zombies, a lot of fun is yet to be had here.

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In 1975, a low-budget Hindi film known as Jai Santoshi Maa was released, popularizing what was once a small cult devoted to a Goddess of Satisfaction, and daughter of Ganesha.  Her growth was because of pop-culture at the time, as well as the needs of the common people.

Let me digress from that and talk about how different deities become popularized and change.  Over time, the needs of the people change, like, for example, a primarily agrarian culture becoming urban due to a trade route.  The changing needs and perspectives lead to inspired poets to write about the Gods and their changes, which, in turn, are interpreted by philosophers.  Ra-Hoor-Khuit is not the Ra or Horus of Egypt, yet he is important to the modern Thelemite because of what he is.  Columbia, the tutelary deity of the United States, is also a good example of this.  And to bring it all back, the biggest example being Santoshi Maa.

Deities grow and change all the time.  It's because of this we have the Central American Folk Saints like Santa Muerte, Maximon, Jesus Malverde, and San Ernesto (more commonly known as Che Guevera).

Halos even look cool on the guy.  And this art piece was done

by Saiyuki989

What isn't a part of this, is the growing worship of Superheroes and Fanfiction-based religions that have grown in the past few years.  Now, granted, some of these grew out of a good sense of Neopagan mirth, like the Friendship is Pagan rituals.  However, some of this, I sense, comes from nothing more than Escapism.  I fully understand that this post will not win me any friends, and will probably piss people off, but, in some regards, the battlelines have been drawn.

I understand, our modern world kind of sucks.  Sure, we have all these comforts of living that I probably can give up for like a week at most (I would miss the microwave too much, and Skype), but we have such a disconnect to the world around us, to our past, and what we do have a connection to, the sacredness of it died off years ago as a part of the continuation of disenchantment that has been going on since the Industrial Revolution.  A mantle of family pictures and memories has been replaced by the latest model flat-screen TV.  Our biggest problems are not whether we will have food or money to live comfortably, but over celebrities and whether or not our internet is going fast enough.

However, escapism is not the medicine to our sickness, escapism is a symptom of the sickness.  A comment on Sannion's blog rightfully states that we don't see this kind of debate come up in Christian or Hindu traditions, or in a lot of traditions for that matter.  Many traditions have fiction writers and fiction about them, it doesn't mean that the fiction is a part of their liturgy or history.  I doubt you will find many Buddhists who believe that, in 1975, Avalokiteshvara defended an incarnation of Maitreya from a gang who wanted to tear down an old temple and put up a hotel in its place, if any at all.

This is because they have a link to their own past.  Many Pagans and such were converts to a young tradition.  It is also a Pagan virtue to be open-minded.  Yet, let us heed Aristotle or else our brains will fall out.

Or you all could convert back to a God that is true...

I feel alone in this conversation.  Roland help

meout here... Roland?

Every morning I wake up and I take a moment to thank the Gods for another day, both the Old Gods and the New.  I pray to Kyberia at times when a problem arises on my laptop, so that I will have assistance in fixing said problem (I believe all prayers and such should be backed up with action, praying for healing and then not visiting a doctor is kind of silly).  I reflect on how the Final Fantasy series pushed me onto the path that lead me here Spiritually.  If I had kids I would probably have them read Francis Bonnet's Suburban Fairy-Tales and watch a lot of Sci-Fi, especially Doctor Who.  My lararium has a sort of pastel look and has a crystal skull by it.  I am definitely not some sort of "everything by the history books" Pagan.  I have my fandoms, but I understand the difference between The Doctor and Hermes, or Cloud Strife and Herakles.

The Ancients also understood this.  They has Aesop and Aristophanes for their fictions.  Nobody worshiped Pisthetaerus as King of the Gods.  They understood that the fictions were commentaries, filled with truths and story-telling tropes, but they were commentaries on life.  Some fictions also held good values to teach, but they were fictional nonetheless.  Fiction can be filled with inspiration, I mentioned that back a few months ago in another Pagan Blog Project post.  Inspiration is important.  There is a chance that maybe Amaterasu had something to do with the game Okami, that doesn't mean that she now takes the form of a white wolf with the One-Inch Boy riding on her back.

Or maybe she does now.  That is the thing about the idea of progressive revelation, things change.  New Gods can wind up replacing or absorbing old ones, foreign Gods become beloved of a different people (Quan-Yin amongst the New Agers is one), and new ancestors become heroes celebrated by a nation.  Some people grow to accept these changes, and some don't.  Dionysus is both King of the Gods (according to some Orphics) and at the same time he hasn't supplanted Zeus as King.

Am I skeptical of Pop-Culture Paganism, obviously.  Outside of mirth and irony, I am very skeptical of Pop-Culture Paganism, I just don't see Captain America in the same light as like Ra-Hoor-Khuit or Columbia.  However, it is a growing cultus.  Do I think a lot of this is escapism,  personally?  Yes.  However, it is still a young movement.  It's kind of strange, but I like strange, even if it doesn't resonate with me.

Table Plan: Super Filth Ebola Fever

I am admittedly a douche DM.  My world is not like others, nor are my adventures/quests.  I put the survival skill to good use out in the wilds, and diplomacy and such in towns and cities.

One aspect I am particularly fond of is disease and poisons.  Things I feel like sometimes don't come up much, but really should.  One of my favorite campaign ideas (never did do it yet) would be a plague, and having the possibility of the party to be infected by this plague as they try to find a cure.

Disease can really mess up an adventurer's day.  Take Filth Fever for example, 1d3 Dexterity and Constitution damage.  Ouch!  In fact, all disease that do Constitution damage is ouch!  Correction, and Ability damage just plain sucks!   In the most recent session I played, I got stung by Hellwasps and was taken down to 2 Dex, so imagine Lazlo (I never did tell that story about what happened with the Raise Dead spell.... well, surprise, Amadeus is Lazlo now) stricken with arthritis and moving around like a drunk person. It's not fun, whatsoever.

Disease in game doesn't even have to be Ability damage based.  For example, even if I get the common cold, I can still do stuff, but I wouldn't be able to work at maximum efficiency.  So maybe a disease like that could only have one move action per round.  How about disease like Ebola, that would cause HP damage I reckon.  Actually, Ebola would probably be like 1d6 Con and 1d6 damage in my mind.  Making up diseases is fun guys!

Bringing disease into the mix makes the players think smart, and think realistically.  While D&D and Pathfinder have Blinding Sickness in tainted water, what about other diseases one could get, like dysentery, or the ever popular Montezuma's Revenge, that one can get by drinking bad or foreign water?  This will make the player want to find ways to purify the water, or even bring their own water, just in case something bad might be lurking in the water supply.  Also, Malaria can be a huge problem to the thirsty PC who thinks themselves invincible to the mosquito.

Earworm of the Day Week

The point is to make the PCs ever aware that harm does not only come from the edge of a sword, but also from things that they wouldn't normally think of.  Therefor, there is a sense of realism, and a sense that the party needs to be well prepared for whatever may come after them, whether it comes in Goblin, Dragon, or Mosquito form.

It's So Beautiful Out

I just felt like randomly musing about things in the world and in life.

I've been thinking about the future a lot lately, and also about what I am, and how fucked up the world is when I fully understand myself, but it's okay, because between the dark bits are radiant points of light that, while blinding sometimes, are truly remarkable and beautiful.  Let me explain a bit, so I don't sound like I took a whole bunch or E or joined some cult.

I've grown used to underestimating myself and thinking I'm alone in all of this.  Long-time readers might remember my January post "I Slept Too Long," and see that I tend to not do things out of a fear of not being good enough.  Well, truth is, I still haven't progressed much in some ways from January.  I still haven't chosen a college for a Bachelors, I still don't have a job, and I still haven't taken my EMT Exam, and it might lapse to the point where I have to take a Core class just to take the test again.  However, I have written so much, and planned so much, and I am in the process of possibly getting a pretty decent job.  Also, the possibility of a secondary, supplemental income from this blog is possible.  In January, I had only 256 views on my blog, and in a few short months I have gotten over 500 views a month, and growing.

Of course, I don't say this to mention that this is the beginnings of a supplementary income, no, this is bigger. I am sharing my views and my thoughts to the world, and that was why this blog was established in the first place, it's why the name is "Musings of a Lehigh Valley Guy."  Sure, I muse about gaming a lot, and write about gaming a lot, but I try to, in some posts, link it all to the here and now.  And I think I have been, so far, effective in expressing my thoughts that way.  I never thought I would have my thoughts read by so many.  I've talked about the deepest of philosophy to the inspiration real life can give to fiction, to how fiction can affect real-life, joy at April Poetry Month, to even a bit about dodgeball and Tina Turner in chainmail.

When I checked my stats for my blog a few months ago, back in March, I also received the sobering proof that not only am I read about here in the US, but globally to.  In fact, I have noticed that my blog has quite a readership in Russia and Germany.  I remember seeing once that I had three readers from Japan, and I remember remarking to Destiny about it, about how interesting it was to have readers from all over the world.  I might not be the biggest blog out there.... yet, but reading that made me realize just how big of an impact blogging has.  It's like being an ambassador of sorts, and that is both awesome and terrifying.

My Blogiversary is next month on the 12th.  So, just for you guys, my readers, I will be doing a 12 Days of Blogging journey counting down the days from June 1st-12th.  Oh sure, a Blogathon might not be the greatest of presents, but right now, I'm poor, so a Give-Away is out of the question, and if I was to do a video, I will have to plan it out.  So we have, starting on June 1st:

12 Zodiac Jokes

11 Doctor Who Thoughts

10 things on a Top-Ten

9 Philosophies

8 Campaign Tidbits (My World)

7 Hints to my Game

6 Days a Sacrifice (totally not a hint to anything)

5 Biggest Fuck-Ups!

4 Cat Pics

3 Epic Locales

2 Staff Rolls

And an epic Blogiversary

Once again, I want to extend a pre-Blogiversary Bash thanks to all my viewers.  Thank you, спасибо, dankeschön, ありがとう, and see ya then.

Well, see ya tomorrow with some Table Plan!

I Survived the Best Worst Movie

This week, I just didn't feel like blogging.  I had a Table Plan set up, some other gaming/nerd news, musings on the Boy Scouts, a PBP post about superhero worship, and a reflection on Dystopia Rising, but nope, I decided on an impromptu vacation from blogging.  However, something happened last night, I survived the worst horror movie ever.

Troll 2, for the uninitiated, was a horror movie, originally to be titled Goblins, but had the name changed to make it a part of the Troll series.  The Troll series is probably most well known for having the largest number of sequels that have NOTHING to do with the original movie, and also for having two Troll 3's.  I haven't been this confused by chronology since I discovered the confusing links between the Adventure Island, Wonder Boy, and Monster World series.  Troll also had a brief return to the limelight when the people behind Troll, in 2008, criticized J.K. Rowling for perceived copyright issues, but it's not like there was a character named Harry Potter in the film.  That's a troll in the dungeon that I wouldn't want, thought you oughta know.

As you can find the plot of Troll 2 practically anywhere online, due to it receiving a cult status much akin to Rocky Horror Picture Show (and I can honestly see why), I won't go into plot, except to say that there were some random left-field style plot points, but at least I could see what they were going for.  It's a growing-up/coming of age film, for both kids transitioning to being older, and teens to adults, well, kind of, at least I thought so.  I also loved how some of the horror aspects fell laughably on their respective faces, creating perhaps one of the funniest movie experiences that I have ever had.

This is the weirdest porn movie I have ever watched of all

time... oh wait, it's just a scene from Troll 2

It certainly was a bad movie.  There have certainly been worse movies out there, like Nudist Colony of the Dead, or Twilight (sorry, not sorry).  The acting was much like that little attempt at making an actual movie that I know you did, I know I did.  My cousins and I tried making a very low budget version of Goldeneye with me as James Bond, a seven-or-eight year old me as the main character, and the acting was piss poor.  At least this was before the YouTube era, so it never wound up online, and it was taped over to have on film me getting hugged by my first girlfriend after she squeed at the present I got her.  Me at 6th grade, before I became Mr. "Have You Accepted Jesus As Your Lord and Saviour."  At least I didn't piss on hospitality like some people did during those transitory years.

However, this movie was so sincere in its delivery.  You knew that the people were trying their hardest to perform their roles, and we can't fault them for that.  It reminds me of an old campfire story.  They weren't scary, but they had a sense of home, a sense of the familiar, and yes, the ridiculous.  This was a very sucky horror movie, and if you view it as just that, then yes, this would be one of the worst movies of all time.  However, Troll 2 is more than that.  Troll 2 is definitely a party movie, a movie to watch with a large group of people, to experience the hilarity of it together.  If you can find it on Netflix, or if you have it on DVD (or you can find it online, like I did with Best Worst Film), make a night out of it, serving green colored foods, and Rocky Horror-esque acts, like throwing popcorn at the scene I displayed above.

Has this film made a fan of me, yes, yes it has.  As soon as I got done watching it, I had to find Best Worst Film, and watch that, and I enjoyed that to.  Many call Troll 2 the Rocky Horror of the MySpace era, and I can see why.  This film is very entertaining, and it definitely requires a watch.  That's my muse on it.

The Name of the Doctor

You know we have had a rather interesting season finale for a show that has been around for 50 years when...

This Guy

And This Girl

Can interact with each other in the same scene.  We have come a long way in cinematography, and to have William Hartnell's Doctor, on Gallifrey (which was not really shown nor discussed util the end of the Second Doctor's run), with Clara Oswin Oswald.  I was proud of this episode from the very beginning I guess you could say.  For a storyline that is going to be wrapped up in the 50th Anniversary Special, to have interaction with the very first Doctor was the best way to kick it off.

In fact, let's watch the scene shall we?

You will probably love it as much as I did.  We also get to see Susan briefly in that scene to.  The feels man, the feels.  I always told people who knew of Classic Who that one day, she would come back, yes, she would come back.  Until then, no fears, no regrets, no anxieties.  We would just go forward in watching Doctor Who, and hope that I am not mistaken in my hopes.  Hello Susan, hello my dear.

I will not discuss a lot of it, for spoilers sake (except for the kind of sort of big reveal, but I think the journey to that point is what makes it epic, plus, it's plastered all over the intarwebz already), but this was I think a fantastic way to kick off a two parter, even if we now have to wait until November 23rd.  This episode, in my honest opinion, was full of win.

River Song returned, which lead to a few heart-wrenching moments.  River sometimes reminds me of a certain somebody I know, and this same person remarks to me about how I sometimes act like the Eleventh Doctor.  We got to see the Great Intelligence again.  I always tend to remark how the Great Intelligence was kind of sort of equated to the Old One Yog-Sothoth in the Doctor Who novels, so seeing the Great Intelligence in the form of Doctor Simeon, to me, after knowing that fact, is a bit weird.  Yog-Sothoth (and the Great Intelligence in the old series) is supposed to be a conglomeration of iridescent, glowing spheres, but hey, with great power come great abilities to look like whatever the hell you want.

And, spoilerific section time, skip to the bold ASDFGHJKL; if you don't want to read (and try to avoid the image):

John Hurt playing a regeneration of the Doctor that we haven't scene before was a bit of a surprise.  When I heard he was going to be in the 50th, I assumed a third actor playing the First Doctor, but seeing him as a Valeyardesque not-so-good-guy Doctor was, shall I say, curious... very curious.

And the in general demeanor, shows a man wracked by guilt.  I can't wait to see where they go with this.

ASDFGHJKL;

I hope that was enough spaces.

Anyway, if you haven't caught the episode yet, you can probably find it online somewhere, or you can wait until Thursday to watch it (for us BBCA people that is, I don't know for the UK).  You won't regret it.

I guess the only bad thing I could say about the episode is how I feel like certain parts were a bit rushed, and that I would have liked to have seen more Classic Doctors interact with Clara, beyond the Third Doctor (Jon Pertwee) glancing at her in the rear-view mirror of Bessie.

That's all I have to say.

 P.S. And yes, I have a celeb-crush on Jenna Louise-Coleman

Table Stories: The Gravity of the Situation

So tell me, what would make you sit back and think, "how the hell did that happen," when it comes to dragon stories?  What is the weirdest dragon slaying story you know?  I think every gamer has one, and here is mine.

In our current setting, my paladin died (we brought him back, kind of, more on that in two weeks) and he was replaced by an old butler/alchemist gnome named Tyrion Lannister Tyrone Argent.  Tyrone fought with trickery and illusion, using that to his fighting advantage.  If that doesn't work, he plays his bardic songs on his flute.  He wasn't my best character, but he was a temporary replacement that worked for the time being.

Bringing back the image source links because I am an

honorable man, and Tyrone wills it! (source)

Before I continue, there is an actual set of rules for falling objects and how much damage said falling object can do in the DMG.  As the rules state:

For each 200 pounds of an object’s weight, the object deals 1d6 points of damage, provided it falls at least 10 feet. Distance also comes into play, adding an additional 1d6 points of damage for every 10-foot increment it falls beyond the first (to a maximum of 20d6 points of damage).

With the upper limit being 20d6 damage (I guess even fictional settings have to follow the laws following terminal velocity, simplistic terminal velocity that doesn't make sense due to the next few sentences, but still), an object that is 2,200 lbs, or around one tonne (the Queen's tonne that is), that falls 60 feet would do about 16d6 damage.  Realistically, upon reaching a certain height and falling speed, damage should be a lot higher (even a plane will buckle if a car was dropped on it, definitely more than 20d6 damage) so house rule, like we did, accordingly.  16d6 can do a maximum of 96 damage, which can kill a lot of creatures within the Monster Manual (or almost any PC) in one shot, if the Massive Damage rule doesn't kill you first.

Now imagine a dragon dying in this kind of way via something close to a tonne, oh like maybe, how about a polar bear.

After a tanglefoot bag stopped a White Dragon from flying around, it gets Eldritch Blasted by a warlock whom also summoned a polar bear, and after the weakened dragon burrowed into the snow, said bear was dropped.  That is the short and simple version of the story, no frills of the excitement of combat, but it's funnier than that, read on.

Soon after my paladin died, the Druid Storgon was trapped in a mirror, so his player brought in a Half-Orc Monk named Gerthunk, who was on a mission from Pelor to slay an evil on a mountain (the dragon).  Our part also recieved a mission from the Star Queen to slay said evil.  We climb and the epic battle gets underway.  The dragon had us on the defensive, so Mel's character, Dagon (eghads, a new name.  Readers say hi to Mel, he is cool) threw a tanglefoot bag at its wings, bringing the dragon to crash into the mountainside, and causing an avalanche.  I think I should also mention that the warlock and I flew up to bring the White Dragon to the part, and so he could lift me, I took off my armor and my gear except my flute (and you don't know where that was), which was all buried in the snow.

I run off to find a burrowing critter to help me uncover the equipment, only to discover the injured and pissed off dragon.  This lead me to run off in the opposite direction saying the most famous chant in my gaming career, "IT'S NOT A FUCKING WEASLE!!!!"  Obviously, with only my flute, my Bard was basically relegated to doing nothing but play music the entire battle (Except for my dart throw, which was this video).  So the warlock, aka, our one-man army, beats up the dragon with Eldritch Blasts, and leads it to burrow.  Gerthunk leaps into the hole to Minecraft punch the dragon into submission.  The Warlock then commands a summoned polar bear to fall into the hole, killing the dragon... and Gerthunk.

Warlock Wins!  FATALITY! (source)

Our party would not remember the name of Gerthunk, nicknaming him posthumously as Gersplat, for the last sound we knew of him.  We then save Storgon, revive Amadeus, and return to the Gnome City to tell of our hilarious tale of glory.

And Amadeus walks alone into an Armory and walks up to the counter. (Play this video and read the next few lines, we all know which of my characters is associated with this song).

"Shopkeep!  Shopkeep!"

"Yes, what is it?  What do you want at this hour?"

"Do you know of anyone in town that sells... a hand crossbow."

To be continued...

Pagan Blog Project: Jehova

Good Heavens just look at the time!

Boy did this week fly-by.  And this week we have the letter J to.  J can be a toughie, not much to do with the letter J.  One thing we can do, however, is take an interesting journey into a look at the god Jehova.  Yes Jehova, the God of the Jewish People, God the Father, Lord of Hosts, the King of Kings, El-Shaddai, The Name.  Believe it or not, he has a very big role to play within modern Paganism!

Judaism, alongside the Greek Mysteries and the Egyptian Mysteries, formed a huge part of the magical and spiritual atmosphere in Late Antiquity, especially in Alexandrian/Greco-Egyptian culture.  Putting aside the first of the Ten Commandments, Jehova was worshiped alongside many Deities in Alexandria.  One place we can see this is in the Greek version of the Tetragammaton, the Four-Letter Name of God, YHVH (Yahweh, the Latin being Iehova, which became Jehova in English), which is IAO.  Iao is the name of an Archon within Gnosticism.  Gnosticism, by the way, was not a Christian tradition only, there were many Pagan Gnostics.  The Greek IAO appeared in magical workings after Late Antiquity, and can even be found within the Thelemic Gnostic Mass.

IÔ IÔ IÔ IAÔ SABAÔ
KURIE ABRASAX KURIE MEITHRAS KURIE PHALLE .
IÔ PAN, IÔ PAN PAN   IÔ ISKHUROS, IÔ ATHANATOS IÔ ABROTOS IÔ IAÔ.
KHAIRE PHALLE KHAIRE PAMPHAGE KHAIRE PANGENETÔR.
HAGIOS, HAGIOS, HAGIOS IAÔ. 

Invocation at the Opening of the Veil

 The next major influence of Jehova upon modern Paganism is within Neo-Druidry.  Back in the early days of the Neo-Druid movement, it was assumed that Druid worshipped one God, who was symbolized as the Sun, a carry over of Christian monotheism.  Keeping close to the Church was important within Neo-Druidry until the 1800's, when it began to include Nature Veneration, Ancestor Veneration, Reincarnation, and the like into its practices.  

In fact, a lot of the Occult moved away from the Church during the 1800's.  There was a general interest in the cults of the Old Gods, as well as Eastern influences, especially Buddhism (modern Paganism actually shares a very interesting relationship with Buddhism).  This was the time of Crowley and his revelation from Ra-Hoor, and around the time of Dion Fortune's famous saying "all Gods are one God, all Goddesses are one Goddess, and there is but one Initiator."

However, even afterwards we are influenced by Jehova, and that is by no means a bad thing either.  Gerald Gardner wrote that much like how Jehova was the patron God of the Jews, the Lord and Lady were patrons of the Wica (you see, the Lord and Lady were originally not conceived as universals, but Deities that watched over a specific group).  Tribal tutelary Deities are a part of some Neopagan Theologies, especially more folkish ones, in which the comparison is still made.

However, one major influence Jehova has, is the fear of some Neopagans have over the Sky Father.  Earth Mother, Moon Goddess, Green Man, Horned God, but no Sky Father.  The closest some get is a Sun God (and note, again I am not talking about Pagan Reconstructionists with that).  Part of this comes from Second Wave Feminism and its antipathy (and rightly so) towards Patriarchy, and another part from the want to distance oneself from Abrahamic religion.  What I think some people forget in that aspect is that not every Sky God is Jehova, even if the Romans equated Jupiter with him (and if you look in the art, I think the reverse happened after the empire became Christian).  Also, Jehova wasn't the only violent Deity in history.  Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita uses warfare as a teaching mechanism to Arjuna, and warfare appears in Celtic mythology to.

I include this picture as an interesting relic.  Parts of this altarpiece line up

with the Kabbalah

I feel that, if we as Pagans, want to begin entering Interfaith groups and movements, I think we need to re-evaluate the influences other religions had upon our own history, as well as giving the Deities within these traditions the same respect we expect.  We might not agree with Judaism and Christianity, and we might live in a society where Christian Privilege is omnipresent where challenging said privilege is necessary, but we need to begin to see the inter-connectivity we all share.  

5 4 5: My Video Game Earworms

So its May, the fifth month of the year, and its time for a new Five for Five (now called 5 4 5, because numbers are kewl)!

My Top Five Video Game Earworms, those songs that I just can't get out of my head, or, if I do get them out, I can get them stuck again with nary a thought!  Remember that, again, this is MY list, not an overall list of all games ever.

5: Main Theme of Final Fantasy

I think it must be said that no self-respecting game could possibly hate this song.  I'm not even the biggest fan of Final Fantasy and I adore this song.  This is the National Anthem of Video Games, if Games had their own country.  I had this on my IPod, before I stopped using it when ITunes became a monster to work with, and when this song came on, I stayed in my truck and I listened to it.  This song is a testament to the genius of Nobuo Uematsu, a veritable God of Music that he is.  I can only think of a few games this song wasn't present in (and oddly enough, those were the Final Fantasies that, in my honest opinion, SUCKED).  This is one of my favorite Video game songs, but, is definitely not one of the one I think are the catchiest to me.

Game: Most Final Fantasies

Systems: You seriously want me to list all of the systems Final Fantasy games were on ?!?

4: Grandia Battle Theme 1

It should be obvious that a game I LOVE would be on this list.  I LOVE Grandia, and the music was one of the major reasons why.  A lot of songs could be on this list, but of them, the first Battle Theme seems to be the one that sticks the most.  It makes an appearance in a lot of things I do.  Background music for D&D, there it is!  My RPG Maker 2000 game, there it is again!  It's replaced until the Final Boss battle by a less memorable song when Disk 2 starts.  The Final Boss theme incorperates this song into it.

Game: Grandia

System: PS1

3: Soviet March

Yes, I am quite aware this is a remixed version, but this is my favorite version

I never played the Command and Conquer series, but I have seen it played.  In fact, I would not have known this song existed if it wasn't for a bored night on YouTube.  First things first (but not necessarily in that order), The World War II and the Cold War are two parts of history that interest me, as much as the Axial Age and the Roman Empire (and the Three Kingdoms period of China), so I found this song during one of my boring-for-you-yet-fun-for-me research binges, and in my head it stuck.  For example, while cleaning up at Dystopia Rising, I gave a cute Red Star girl a ride back to her camp, and then to her car (Red Stars, for those who don't kow, are a Straine of Humanity in the LARP that are basically genetically pre-disposed to Communism).  After dropping her off at her car, I spent the rest of clean up humming this song to myself.  Even things that have nothing to do with Red Alert 3 make me think of this song, damn!

Game: Command and Conquer Red Alert 3

System: XBox 360, PS3, Windows, MacOS

2: Credits Theme from A Link To The Past

A while back I did a blog post on Weddings/Handfastings for a little thing I am a part of called Pagan Blog Project.  In there I mentioned that, music wise, I wanted string and wind instruments.  This is the song I had in mind when I typed that.  This is my favorite song in any Zelda game, and is one of my favorite video game songs (though not the catchiest).  It comes, obviously by the name, at the end of one of my favorite Zelda games, and was one of those moments when, after hearing it my first time, kind of did have a sort of post game cry-fest.  Every time I hear this song I take time to pause and reflect.  This song also does, sometimes, make me think of handfastings.  It doesn't help that its easy for me to think of this song.

Game: The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past

System: SNES, GBA

1: Katamari Damacy (Katamari On The Rocks)

Is it REALLY a surprise, the music from this game was just so catchy.  And I'm ready to be smacked for this, I haven't really played Katamari Damacy, I have played it a few times, but only when I borrowed it, and before my one friend went to college, so its been a few years.  But I will still find myself going "lalalalalalala KATAMARI DAMACY!"  In fact, all the songs on the soundtrack were catchy, but by far this one took the cake for me, that and Katamari on the Swing (which would probably be 6th if I extended the list).

Game: Katamari Damacy

System: PS2

Table Plan: My First Campaign Setting

Notice: I know this is a day late for a Table Plan, but today was a busy day, plus I was still tired from an awesome weekend at a LARP known as Dystopia Rising.

As a sort of Post-D&D Origins Month epilogue, I want to talk about my first campaign setting that I ran, the Kingdom of Roselia.  It wasn't as involved as the one I am making now, but it had many towns fleshed out.  Basically, much like how the Ultima Series had towns based on each Virtue, this setting has towns and such based on each class and race in the Player's Handbook.  Some of these, like: Beast's Pit, The Blue City, Sienna; are location names I use today.  Some, like Midenhall, I got from other games.  The world was a strangely shaped super-continent that looked like most of a "D" except with the bottom half of the straight line in "D" missing.

 At least my Midenhall is bigger.

The world was also my first attempt at trying to make a world in which magic, being as common as it is in D&D, is practically used.  Golems and animated horses doing labor and taxi services, Kikiesque delivery services, etc; all existed in the Kingdom of Roselia.  Roselians shared a pantheon of Gods that included such deities like the Grey Angel and the Golden One.  Roselians generally knew peace, except for some places that had raiding tribes of Goblinoids.  Generally life was good.

My campaign in this setting was mainly having the PCs be a police force mixed with a sort of archaeology expedition, leading to the discovery that a Half-dragon demigod known as Apsu was awakening in the Dragon Graveyard, a giant desert hidden behind a mountain range that was in an ever changing jungle.  While some of the quests the party faced included that, they also had one-offs like: a hostel that hid a Yuan-Ti temple to Merrshaulk, a walking tower/keep that the party ends up using, a political plot on a Japanesque island, etc.

Finally, they followed an evil organization that wished to use Apsu for their own purposes, which failed for them horribly, and the party successfully stopped the half-dragon from taking over everything.  The ending of the campaign was kind of rushed, I felt DM-Burnout coming on, that, and I made this world to surround this one adventure, once it was done the world felt kind of blah.  Some worlds are made for a one-shot adventure series, and some, like my current, can be used for many an adventure.

As my first campaign, I didn't know how to balance things, and sometimes the cohesion failed, and some monsters were made too easy (i.e. Dragons should be fucking scary).  I also let one player become a Lich.  This is the same guy that I kind of looked to, at times, as an older brother in a way, so I guess that was part of the reason I let it slide, that and it made a running gag for the ages.  However, this campaign set some of the mainstays of my games.  City and location names, a world of practical magic (and now that put the theme of the titual movie in my head), that hostel, and other things.  Later on, I did revisit this world, and did write up more about it like a floating castl.... okay okay, so this was Miyazaki on steroids.

Would I ever make a Director's Cut of this adventure, maybe.  Despite the simplicity, there were quite a few things I liked about this setting, so I would more than likely do a personal director's cut with a group one day.