Every D&D session I take notes on situations that lend themselves to good posts. Usually these center on issues either with the rules or with the other people at the table. Yesterday I got to add a whole new category. You see, I played without my character sheet.

I didn’t mean to. I took my character sheet out of my d&d bag to look over something and update my character builder file.  But I never put it back. Somehow I also removed my power cards from the bag too.  Since it’s been 4 weeks since I last played I assumed I had everything.   Of course, I could have asked the DM to print it out since I emailed her the character builder file (which is also on several of our group sites).  But by the time I realized I couldn’t find my sheet the game was already underway and I was too into it to halt. Plus, I didn’t really expect any combat since we were down 2 players. Once again, I was wrong.

The whole session was both a freeing and stressful.  There is something about the visual constraint of boxes on paper and cards. By not having the numbers to fall back on, it forced me to think more in line with my characters’ motivations and not his abilities. Usually I look to my character sheet for a way out of a situation. For example,  if I have fire-immunity I might try to impress a NPC by walking on hot coals. Without that ability staring me in the face, I instead can go back to “my character is adventuring to  save the family farm from foreclosure” and instead try to impress the NPC with a tale of woe or my impressive knowledge of the tax codes.

The other nice thing about not having the sheet: I tried to avoid die-rolling situations.  In a combat with a big bad NPC I ended the combat sooner with an intimidate check because I used up all the powers I could remember at that point and didn’t want to make something up. I also asked general knowledge questions instead of ones that would require me to look up what skills I had trained.

I was also stressed about mis-remembering stats or powers.  My goal was to only use things where I was confident the number was in a range of +/- 2. Which looking back at my sheet, I pretty much was. It would have really helped in the fights for me to have had my daily powers, but we survived anyway.  The Psion was a boon and a bust in this regard. Since that class has power points instead of encounter powers, I wind up using my at-will a heck of a lot so I remembered them very well. The downside is that since it is only a playtest class, my printout of the Dragon article was in my folder with the character sheet, instead of in the rule-books that were in my bag.

Anyway I learned some interesting facts about myself, my game style and my group by playing without my sheet.

1. I have a pretty good head for numbers. My initiative was off by 1 (did not affect the combat). I made an intimidate check at 38, but should have actually been at 35. That’s made up for the fact that I was giving enemies -2 penalties that should have been -3’s and I did about 3 less damage on average per attack than I should have.
2. I really let my character’s stats influence how I play him.  This stems from my desire to maximize success at every opportunity. In the future I’m going to try to dial it back a bit and make decisions more in line with the character’s motivations instead of his abilities.
3. While some of group seemed a bit annoyed at my unpreparedness, nobody was willing to say anything, so I got away with winging it.

If your GM is willing I say everybody should give this a try at least once. Just don’t all do it at the same time and make sure you know your character’s scores really well. Even better advice: stash a copy of the character sheet online somewhere and keep a print-out in your car.

Photos do not do justice to this corporate impact logo for Destination Development International. The logo is done in 1/2″ aluminum with a 1/4″ semi-translucent white acrylic. The letters are done in 1/4″ acrylic painted on the backside and 1/4″ brushed aluminum.

Working with designer Greg Forsell of DDI, we developed the fabrication design. It looks Smashing!

Don’t forget to sign up for our newsletter at roday.com!

Отступим немного назад от предыдущей записи и посмотрим на другую статью из 381 номера Dragon Magazine. В ней нам предстоит примерить на себя роль жителей Баэл Тураса (Турата?), заключивших договор с демонами из глубин ада. И не просто одним из заурядных жителей империи, а одним из членов уважаемых каст. На выбор предлагается стать паладином/варлоком (ох, странный гибрид, но интересный), служащим в «Кровавом Легионе»; одним из представителей знати — «Коронованным Кровью» или же получить магической обучение в «Черной Академии». Каждый из путей дает свои преимущества (а кто-то сомневался?).

Гибриды паладина и варлока, решившие вступить в легионеры, вскоре поймут, что они являются чуть ли не лучшими масс—маркерами (марка в burts 5, ох-ох) в игре.

Знатные тифлинги могут принимать форму, приближающую их к их создателям — дьяволам (увеличивается регенерация, добавляются плюсы к урону, устойчивость к огню). По эффективности эта сила превосходит превращение шифтеров и работает как форма варденов, даже лучше, так как предоставляемый бонус к урону идет и в ближний и в дальний бой.

Маги из Академии же, могут лишить кого угодно (да, кого угодно, хоть Оркуса, хоть Векну) его сопротивлений до конца своего следующего хода. Ну и всяческие усиления для любителей огненных заклятий.

Выглядят эти дополнения очень и очень приятно, а главное — они дают ощутить мощь расы, получившей силу от самого Асмодея. И это — приятно.

How has the METIS steering group responded to the three messages from this blog?

To recap the messages:

1. You have been going in circles for thirty years

2. You do not have a clue what you are doing

3. The problems you are trying to solve have already been solved

One response is to look back at the “progress” made during the last twenty years – at the next regular UNECE/METIS meeting, in March 2010.

Let us take this task seriously! What progress has the international metadata circuit made?

As anyone who has experience of the use (and abuse) of statistics knows, progress is relative. If you have a 100 yards to travel, and you have covered 4 yards, you have made progress, but you are not even close to your goal.

As we all know, the international metadata circuit is not even close to its goal: truly standard models for alla sub-domains of statistical metadata.

But, surely there has been some progress?! Yes, some, but take a closer look at it!

1. DDI

2. SDMX

3. Karlis Zeila´s (Latvia and Cyprus) metadata-driven production system

Where on this list can we find achievements by the NSO frequent flyers?

1. DDI emerged obliquely, from universities and national data archives, not from the regular self-styled NSO “metadata experts”

2. SDMX was developed more or less single-handedly, by an experienced private consultant. NSO experts could initially not – and most probably still cannot – understand exactly what SDMX is.

3. Karlis Zeila is a uniquely talented individual, who did most of his work on his own, before he emerged on the international statistical metadata scene.

But, what about the technical achievements?

1. DDI has a batch-like, “code book” or “document-oriented” XML structure. This means that it has taken a side track, avoiding the hard core issues of metadata modelling. In fact, it does not even attempt to address those issues!

2. SDMX is also an XML-based standard. Its focus is exchange, not hard core models for integrated NSO systems. The first version was limited to “structures for time series”. This places it in the well-trodden area of macro data models that resemble industry-standards.

3. The Latvian system is an exceptional achievement, but it focues on solving practical issues, at the cost of models that lack true generality. Surely a powerfull and usefull system, but it does not solve basic metadata modelling issues in a standardised way.

It gets even better! The session about progress the last twenty years will be led by Dan Gillman, from the U.S. Bureau of labor statistics. The number of successfull metadata projects in his office, seems to be inversely correlated to his own influence in the international metadata circuit!

This is logical, since the real raison d´être of this circuit is international travel, back-slapping and buffée dinners, not to solve the hard core statistical metadata modelling issues.

At 18, Rebekka Armstrong became a Playboy Playmate. It was her dream.

Three years later, her doctor told her she had HIV. Her dream started to crumble and her body physically started to break down.

Armstrong’s message to students at Towson University touched on her success with Playboy, her struggle with HIV, the empowerment she now feels after overcoming her fears and an emphasis to students on safe sex.

I’ve decided to tell this story through Armstrong’s quotes. There were so many and I feel like her words describe here experience more powerfully than my own.

Living the dream

“I felt like when people knew my Playboy status that meant I needed to rock their world.”

Confirmed diagnosis: She was HIV+

“I was 22 years old. They gave me two years to live.”

‘When [the doctor] told me that I was HIV positive, I lost it. The only thing I knew about HIV was death.’

“I was terrified of people not wanting to be around me.”

“I drank and I used drugs to self-medicate.”

Sick in hospital, wasting away. “I weighed 80 lbs.”

Spiked fevers, night sweats, cramping in abdomen, diarrhea, vomiting.

“I had eight spinal taps in four days.”

Collapsed at a club in Texas. “My pancreas is rupturing form DDI.” This was her second experimental prescription, not FDA approved.

“I decided, I’m going to take my life.”

She washed down a box full of narcotics with tequila and drove into a wall near Panga Canyon.

“I was in coma for three days. Everything hurt, black charcoal was coming out of me.”

The reality of HIV/AIDS

“This is one of the many faces of AIDS. I highly doubt you’d be walking through campus and say ‘That bitch got AIDS.”

“Every hour of every day, those aged 13-24, two of you are infected.”

“We are all human beings and we make mistakes, but we don’t have to.”

“AIDS is a tricky little bastard. It works around the drug.”

Epiphany: She wanted to make a difference

“’I’m Rebekka Armstrong and I have AIDS.’ Those are probably the most empowering word I’ve ever said.”

“I will help save the life of another woman.”

“I want to make a difference and I want to prevent kids from getting this.”

“I got a web page, started writing…visited my old high school, doing real grass root stuff.”

“I’m on a journey. This is my path so I gotta make the most of it.”

When asked who she contracted the disease from, her answer: “I infected me.”

“By putting on a funny face and laughing and putting on a good vibe, it’s saving my life.”

“As far as my future is concerned, I’m definitely going to be around for it.”

Encouraging safe sex

“I think I am more open than your grandmother to talk about sex.”

“Being that sex is an important topic in college, I want people to see the repercussions of not having safe sex.”

“It only takes one time to make a decision to have unprotected sex.”

“Take the time to protect yourself. You are worth it. One of these could have saved my life.” Holding up a condom.

Yes, but not really . . .

This is the current answer to most customization questions you have for the current iteration of DDI’s Character Builder.

Can you create a race? Yes, but not really . . . see you can enter a name and all, heck you could even enter a full write up within details box, but you’ll never see it enter the functionality of the builder. The numbers you include will have no real affect on the game. That means manually adjusting attributes, and writing your racial powers down elsewhere.

Can you create a class? Yes, but not really . . . see above.

Can you create a power? Yes, but not really . . . see above.

This is a shame. 4e’s power system and its structured sense of design beg to be played with by adventurous DMs; however, their best and most useful piece of software does not acknowledge this.

Will It Ever?

A better way to phrase this question is: “Does WotC have anything to gain from focusing on making the DDI Character Builder ‘play nice’ with custom elements?

No – Why would they. Sales seem strong now, and they are putting out so much content that if you cannot find what you are looking for you must be blind. Besides, it’s just bad business. If a person could just adjust and insert custom elements, why would they even need our material? (INHERENT FALLACY ALERT: Little secret, DDI almost makes the books obsolete. DMG2 and campaign books for fluff are about all I need . . .)

Yes – Custom elements equates to more functionality/ease-of-use for 3^rd party publishers. Playing nice with the industry equates to a stronger hobby. A stronger hobby equates to more sales. Besides, WotC could use the PR boost in some eyes.

Also opening up customization elements would really jive with this concept of more DM control (look how easy it is to build encounters, monsters, etc.).

Verdict

I don’t care. I am using homebrew elements regardless. I have no qualms about going back to pencil and paper. Hell, I’d save a boatload in ink.

Next time: Bullywugs!

‘til then

A Chain of Thoughts:

Though I am currently in one campaign and running another, I am always keeping my eyes down the road . . . I’m always planning my next campaign.

For the longest time, I had convinced myself that next campaign was going to be run in Eberron. I love the steam punkish feel of that setting, its warforged, its dark politics, the noir feel, the mysteries surrounding the past and the tension suffusing the present. But, as is always the case, I grow apprehensive about playing in published campaign realms; inevitably, there is something that turns me off. While most of my concerns are easy fixes, this very practice of tinkering leads me to further and further reaching explorations that slowly, but inexorably, pull me from the published world.

While I will not go into details with Eberron, as I may still well run it, there is another reason I’ve become more and more convinced a homebrew is for me.

Houserules.

Particularly, I love games that are gritty and difficult. Therefore I love houserules that optimize that feel. But I also love houserules that emphasize roleplaying, resource management, and give the player’s more choice.

Mosey through my blogroll: Spirits of Eden, At-Will, Roleplaying Pro.   .  . it is hard not to read these sites and want to use or expand on what they’ve done. Looking at Thieves’ Tools section and see the houserules (to be revised/expanded this week) I’ve appropriated. Or take for example, Spirits of Eden’s Background Feats or Combat Style Feats . . . while they may not work in my homebrew they give me the inspiration and outline to craft my own.

A Hurdle

So ez, pz right? Well, no. Because of the awesome DDI Character Builder.

He's waiting for the dungeon mapper. Still.

I love this thing. My group loves this thing. IT DOES THE MATH FOR YOU! And it prints off sheets of info, organizes your powers, etc . . . What it doesn’t do, that well anyways, is play nice with custom elements.

But I will save it faults for the next part of this . . .

For now let me leave you with what the DDI Character Builder can do:

• • FEATS: You can easily take illegal feats, or better yet, write in your own. Click on the little Houserule button (shaped like a house, how cute) and choose create custom element. Name your feat. Then fill in the text box. This text will appear on your character sheet, so keep it brief like the other feat synopses.
  • Let’s say you’re the kind of DM who likes to use background feats (ala Paizo) to really immerse your group into the setting. Well, the Character Builder does allow you to create extra feat slots, as well. Just click on the lower Houserule button and a new slot appears. You can do this ad nauseam. (You can also just add this as a custom background)
    • What does not work for feats? Well, the system does not recognize the bonuses your feats may give. Bust out your pencils.
  • SKILLS: Just as with feats you can, you can open all illegal elements and create extra slots
  • POWERS: The only benefit I’ve seen in this regards is the ability to take powers from other classes; then again, I’m not sure how often that is going to come up.
  • CLASSES: Much as with powers, you are fairly limited in your customization here: you can take the class benefits of other classes. For example, your cleric could gain Staff of Defense. Yes, you can make your own, as well. However, keep in mind that any bonuses you incorporate will not figure into the math on your character sheet, nor can you easily include a power like Inspiring Word.

Now, I’ve touched on what it can do, and, if people actually read this, they may say, “Dude, you can make classes, races, powers, etc.” Sure. In name you can do this, but later this week I will point out the flaws inherent in doing so, and try to prophesize how much customization WotC will allow with their builder.

’til then.

D[di:] is a multi-talented artist who has worked as a singer, model, novelist, manga artist and illustrator. Her debut work was the comic  Fantastic Silent, which was created while she was still a student of an art college. The project took the form of a one meter long tempera painting, which was subsequently photographed and published in a magazine, a sublime example of traditional fine art turned popular culture.

Since then, D[di:] has established herself as an artist creating  experimental and unconventional work that combines different art forms. In Kigurumi she combined the novel with a manga format, filling all the frames with nothing but text. Similarly, before her debut as a singer, she included a free music CD with her manga Angel Meat Pie. As a mangaka, D[di:] describes the dark side of human nature with fascinating insight, but it is the unusual forms her work takes which really intrigue. This is her official website, blog and amazon shop.

The BCN Design Week, organized yearly by BCD Barcelona Design Centre, is an international business focused congress framed in the field of design and aimed at those companies and professionals in any industry or productive services that use knowledge and creativity as a driver of its business activity.

This year the BDW will celebrate its fourth edition positioned as a leading event for promoting and debating design and a date on the international calendar that can’t be missed. From 26th to 30th of October, businesses of diverse productive or services sectors, professionals and experts of the world of design as well as prestigious speakers will give themselves appointment in a platform of experiences in which the main topics to be addressed are Design Thinking & Creativity, Design Management, Mobile Design or Family business and Creativity, among other topics.

See you in BDW!

More news in: http://www.ddi.es

J’ai découvert cette artiste recement lors de mes pérégrination sur la toile et je dois dire que j’ai bien accroché. Rien qu’a son nom assez particulier que visiblement on prononce ‘deeth’. Je n’ai pas réussi a trouver grand chose sur elle a part qu’elle a l’air d’être une artiste touche à tout. La peinture, la musique, écriture etc…

Pour le moment j’ai écouté deux albums et j’aime beaucoup cette façon de mélanger electro-indus, punk-pop avec une voix assez particulière. C’est assez planant et elle crée bien un univers comme ils disent dans les magasines de rock et de folk. Je suis pas fan de tout ce qu’elle fait en peinture mais ca correspond bien a la musique qu’elle fait.

Visiblement elle a inventé un genre d’écriture qui s’appelle le “Novel-Comic” mais je n’ai pas encore eu l’occasion de me renseigner sur ce dont il s’agit. Pour le moment je vous donne le clip de Angel Meat Pie, une sorte de destroy organisé…j’aime beaucoup

et évidement des liens (le blog est en japonnais)

site officiel:

myspace: http://www.myspace.com/deeth

site officiel: http://www.deeth.net/

blog: http://blog.livedoor.jp/deeth/

Pondok Pesantren Asshirathal Mustaqim DDI Baru-Baru Tanga, Kabupaten Pangkep, adalah merupakan salah satu Pondok Pesantren yang ada di Kabupaten Pangkep yang sedang dalam tahap perkembangan. Pondok Pesantren ini berdiri sejak tahun 1999. Pada awal berdirinya dipimpin oleh Sirajang, BA. namun saat sekarang ini pesantren tersebut dipimpin oleh Drs. K. H. Hijruddin Mujahid.

Pesantren ini mempunyai beberapa tingkatan pendidikan, diantaranya :
* TPA
* PAUD
* Madrasah Ibtidaiyah
* Madrasah Diniyah Awaliyah
* Madrasah Tsanawiyah
* Madrasah Aliyah
* Pondok Pesantren Salafiyah

Jumlah santri saat ini kurang lebih 500 santri yang sedang dibina saat ini. Tenaga edukatif dan administratif juga sudah memadai untuk melayani pendidikan dan pengadministrasian masing-masing tingkatan jenjang pendidikan.

Pesantren Asshirathal Mustaqim DDI Baru-Baru Tanga, saat ini mempunyai beberapa kegiatan yang menunjang jalannnya kurikulum nasional maupun kurikulum lokal. Kegiatan pendidikan yang sedang dikembangkan ialah antara lain, kegiatan pendidikan formal yang dilakukan saat pagi dan siang hari, kegiatan pendidikan informal seperti pengajian kitab kuning, pendalaman bahasa asing, pembinaan olahraga, pengembangan kegiatan ekstrakurikuler, pengembangan diri, dan pengembangan seni dan tekhnologi informatika dasar.

Pimpinan Pondok Pesantren Asshirathal Mustaqim DDI

Dalam kunjungan pembinaan ini, rombongan Departemen Agama Kab. Pangkep diterima dan disambut oleh Pimpinan Pondok Pesantren Asshirathal Mustaqim DDI Baru-Baru Tanga Kabupeten Pangkep bersama dengan dewan guru yang juga menghadiri kegiatan pesantren tersebut yaitu kegiatan ramadhan berupa Gema Ramadhan 1430 H. Pembinaan monitoring Pondok Pesantren yang dilakukan oleh Departemen Agama Kabupaten Pangkep ini, dituturkan oleh Kepala Departemen Agama Kab. Pangkep yang diwakili oleh Ketua Pokjawas Depag. Kab. Pangkep, Tajuddin Rajja, bahwa tujuan utama pembinaan ini ialah tidak lain hanya untuk memantau pembinaan pondok pesantren secara langsung dan objektif. Pembinaan-pembinaan yang disampaikan dan menjadi perhatian bagi seluruh pengelola pondok pesantren Asshirathal Mustaqim DDI Baru-Baru Tanga Kab. Pangkep ialah ketertiban pelaksanaan administrasi pondok pesantren seperti halnya ialah Laporan Bulanan Keadaan perkembangan Pondok pesantren yang sekiranya dibuat dan dilaporkan kepada Departemen Agama Kab. Pangkep setiap bulannya.

Menurut penuturan staf Pekapontren, St. Fatimah, bahwa laporan bulanan yang dibuat dan dilaporkan kepada Departemen Agama Kab. Pangkep itu merupakan tolak ukur atas keberhasilan pelaksanaan pendidikan, administrasi dan pembinaan minat dan bakat santri yang dibina di pesantren tersebut. Kepala Departemen Agama Kab. Pangkep yang diwakili oleh ketua pokjawas Departemen Agama Kab. Pangkep bahwa di Kabupaten Pangkep terdapat beberapa pondok pesantren, namun dalam mengambil sampel pembinaan pondok pesantren ini hanya 3 buah pondok pesantren yang dijadikan tolak ukur atas keberhasilan para pondok pesantren membina dan mendidik santri-satriwatinya. Pesantren yang dimaksud ialah Pondok Pesantren Ar Rahman DDI Galla Raya, Pondok Pesantren Al Azhar DDI Bonto-Bonto, dan Pondok Pesantren Asshirathal Mustaqim DDI Baru-Baru Tanga.

Selain pembinaan administrasi yang disarankan dalam pembinaan ini, juga dilakukan pembinaan kegiatan santri di pondok pesantren. Seperti halnya kegiatan yang akan datang yaitu Pekan Olahraga dan Seni Tingkat Daerah Propinsi Sulawesi Selatan Tahun 2010, dimana tim pembinaan sangat mengharapkan kepada pihak pesantren Asshirathal mustaqim DDI Baru-Baru Tanga untuk melakukan pembinaan intensif kepada santri dalam bidang olahraga dan seni tertentu untuk diikuti dalam event tersebut. Pembinaan khusus untuk menghadapi Pospeda Tahun 2010, harus dilakukan pembinaan yang intensif dan berkelanjutan agar pada saat event tersebut tiba, maka para peserta yang nantinya menjadi kafilah Departemen Agama Kab. Pangkep sudah siap dan matang untuk berlomba dan bertanding dalam event Pekan Olahraga dan Seni Tingkat Daerah Propinsi Sulawesi Selatan Tahun 2010.

Kunjungan tersebut diakhiri dengan pembacaan do’a yang dipimpin oleh pimpinan pondok pesantren Asshirathal Mustaqim DDI Baru-Baru Tanga, Drs. K. H. Hijruddin Mujahid dan dilanjutkan dengan silaturahmi antara tim monitoring pembinaan pondok pesantren Departemen Agama Kab. Pangkep bersama dengan dewan guru dan pimpinan serta staf yang sempat hadir di tempat itu (munas_news).

I just downloaded and installed the Beta of the new D&D Adventure Tools. And after just a few minutes of messing around with this thing I can see that this app has some nice potential. Even though I see a few minor bugs here and there, this app looks like a great asset to any DM.

First of all, as daunting as monster creation can be, at least in my eyes, this app takes you though the process nice and easy. The simple help text is short and sweet to get you into the real meat of the software and get you going.

Second, my first attempt at building out a fun little monster was quick and easy. One of the best features being that you can use powers already created from all the current official books. It’s a big list.

Third, the ease of printing, copy and paste in rich text or dumping out an image of the monster is full of win. Creating web pages or books full of unique monsters is going to be a snap.

Forth, just being able to browse the monsters currently released within 4e is really nice. Plus, say you need to update a monster in a published adventure. No problem. Load it up, make more mods and BAM! You have a new monster that better fits your party.

Final words: I suspect this app will see lots of changes over the next few months, but I have to say I am excited over it. I also suspect that with the release of this software we will start seeing lots of people publish their own monsters for 4e.

Congtraz! to Wizards for another fine product.

Answering the phone was always a ritual when I was growing up, and indeed it was also a ritual at work and beyond. You had to be polite and clearly identify who you were and who you represented.

“Hello it’s Lance Wiggs speaking” was the norm at home, and “Hello, BigCompany, Joe Smith speaking, can I help you” was the sort of thing common at work.

At work you’d then have to handle the mis-directed calls and transfer calls to the right person. That meant waiting until the person you transferred the call to answered, and taking a message or trying to help if they didn’t. This was a downside of the advances of DDI (Direct Dial In), which was revolutionary technology that gave each person their very own external number rather than an extension. Along the way it meant the passing of the switchboard, with their standardised corporate greeting, and the continued the demise of the secretary/assistant that also took care of the corporate face.

It worked the other way as well – when you called someone in the past you waited until the answerer identified yourself and then replied something like “Hi Fred, it’s Lance Wiggs from BigCompany here…”

These days everyone is the corporate face – and everyone can be contacted in a variety of ways. These days, for me at least, it’s almost always on mobile phone. That means I see who is calling, and I expect that many people that I call will have my name appearing on their phone.

So I was surprised when I caught myself calling someone else on their mobile, and our greeting exchange was abbreviated to “hey”…”hey”. I knew the caller – their ID was in my phone, but was my ID in their phone?  After the heys was a classic Kiwi back and forth – “hi” – “how is it going”, “hey”" – and so on. It was awkward, and it made the rest of the conversation a little stilted.

So while caller ID and address books mean that we know who is calling, and we can in theory reduce time by dispensing with the clunky pleasantries, in practise it can just feel wrong.

So I am contending that a good telephone greeting is still required, and that it it still has important purposes, even if between good friends on mobile phones. Here are five reasons why:

1. It gives extra confidence to the person calling that you are the one they want to speak to
2. It sets the conversation up in a professional, friendly manner – it makes it really easy to know what to say next and so it starts the conversation in a good place.
3. It avoids the normal geeky Kiwi awkwardness saying hello
4. It saves time – we follow a quick “Hello” formula and move on to the weighty matters.
5. It is elegant, answering the phone ‘properly’ gives respect to the other person and just feels right.

What do you think? Hello? Hello?

Out of all the potential classes, I dont think ranger was on the list of likely candidates for a Class Acts article. Its short-yet-useful, spanning all of three pages. The first is devoted to some history on the Verdant Silence order, with the other two spent on actual crunch. There are a dozen powers in total, each suited for two-weapon rangers, as well as a weapon property that lets you shift whenever you hit an enemy twice with a ranger exploit that requires two weapons (and a daily power that makes them grant combat advantage).

The powers range from level 1 to 27, and they are all either encounter attacks or encounter utilities. I really dig the utilities, in particular death threat, which lets you deal ongoing psychic damage to another monster after you drop your quarry. It helps play up hit point abstraction, as well as the fact that not all damage of a specific type has to stem from the same source or inflict damage the same way. Basically, the damage caused by death threat is rooted in fear and stress, and I think its a great concept to play with, allowing martial classes to do stuff like that.

I recently did a shoot with Servitus LA for DDI Magazine. I got to play dress up with some pretty latex and that is always fun. So I was a pretty pinup polkadotted princess in latex, sitting on a nude bound model who was holding a wine glass inbetween her toes as she was kneeling on the floor. I love human furniture!! The model I used is a beautiful female switch who has been well trained indeed. When I met her she said, “I am here for your use during this photoshoot,” as she sat in the Nadu position, which is one of my favorites. I simply had to put her to good use after that!

Hot Dommes, switches, and slaves all piled in the dungeon in sexy latex…yeah good times right there! I did two shoots, one in the dungeon where I suspended a nude model in bondage, and the other just as a fashion shoot. These are a couple of photos from that fashion shoot. The nude bondage suspension photos will be coming up soon!

On 24th June 2009 me and my colleague Justin Hayes attended the second meeting for the Census Web Services Working group (CWSWG).

“The CWSWG is a sub group of the 2011 UK Census Output Working Group (UKCOWG). The purpose of the sub group is to share experience and skills, and enable the development of potential technical solutions relating to the delivery of Census data via the internet. This may involve the attendance of colleagues with specialist skills as well as various experts in the field.”

http://cwswg.wikidot.com/cwswg:tor for more details

The meeting had representatives from the ONS, NOMIS, SASPAC, NeSS , Edina and us with a guest speaker from Eurostat.

At the meeting each of the interested parties gave a brief report on what they have been doing since the last meeting.

The ONS have been working on a proof of concept application that is using retro engineered 2001 data, they also explained their longer term infrastructure where the SDMX will be used and the API’s that they are developing.

Nomis have now created  an interface that uses SDMX to query their data, I was impressed by how far they had got, it allows for the selection of the data by key family (all the information needed to describe a single dataset in SDMX).

SASPAC have been developing an application that utilises the work NeSS have been doing, this should be released in the next few weeks to a small group for user testing.

NeSS has already created an application NeSS Data Exchange (NDE), NDE v1.0 was released just before Christmas in 2008 and has about 400 users, it uses its own xml schema called LGDX and was developed for use at the Local government level.

Edina have been working on a project titled Data Integration and Dissemination (DIaD), this project aims to show the benefits of a generic capability called Geo Linking, this capability allows for the separation of the Census data and its associated boundary data, this then allows for distributed, multi sourced datasets to be seamlessly linked.

And finally us, we gave a report on the CAIRD project and our plans for the coming year in terms of turning our research into a service.

Next up on the agenda was Eurostat, Francesco Rizzo talked to us about the European Census Hub project, the projects main focus is to broaden the dissemination results from the member states, by using a centralised repository, which utilises a common methodology, which is comparable across the member states.

The CWSWG has the slides from Francesco Rizzo’s presentation which go into more detail about the project, one of the things that struck us was that this work is being used to create a single European repository, a hub for the data, yet Francesco says that the only way to get at the data will be through a single website, there are no current plans to create a web service to access this information resource, which for me is a real shame.

The project is being expanded to include more member states, with the ONS expressing an interest to join, which resulted in discussions to see how this work would fit in with their ongoing preparation work for the 2011 dissemination.

Link6694 and Blasterjenx27 go on the worst ride of their lives with Action Girlz racing.

We have Iceland DID numbers available now!

Use the contact form here

I came across  D[di:] when I visited Japan in 2003. She makes the most fantastic images. Visit site here for super cute illustrations.

June’s calendar is up. Mondays and Fridays are Eberron Player’s Guide excerpts, but I could give a fuck less about City of the Dead. However, couple those with Divine Power and Eberron Campaign Guide excerpts, and its a good month even for the non-subscribers.

I’m eager as usual to see what gets thrown into the Ampersand column, but there are a few other highlights to look foward to as well:

• Ecology of the Rust Monster
• Design & Development
• Ruling Skill Challenges
  
• Playing Revenants
• Dungeoncraft
  
• Class Acts: Bard
• Playtest: MM3

Ну что же, Wisards of the Coast, снова сделали подарок своей любимой Королеве Воронов. Теперь это паладины, использующие силы льда и смерти (ох, ну и паладины, да?).

Среди этих сил, встречаются очень даже приятные вещи, такие как Frost of Letherma, позволяющий замедлять всех врагов в зоне burst 2, а помеченные враги становятся immobilized. И ведь это можно продлевать за трату минора. Варденский winter’s herald смотрится детским лепетом по сравнению с этим.

Дальше — больше, в дополнение к предыдущей силе, появляется энкаунтеровый телепорт, который делает прилегающие к персонажу клетки сложными для передвижения.

Плюс появляются силы и фиты, позволяющие сделать из паладина чуть более хорошего вторичного лидера чем раньше (это в дополнение к дефендеру, роль которого, благодаря новым силам, становится исполнять гораздо проще).

Стоит ли говорить о накидке Ворона, которая дает не только плюсы к защитам, но и резисты против холода/смерти и плюсы к спасброску, в случае его провала?

Эх, хотел бы я сделать такого паладина и поиграть им, если бы не одно но… Опять Королева Воронов! Похоже, Волшебники забыли о том, что в пантеоне есть кто-то кроме нее.