c:/ > Head
c:/ > Hit
c:/ > Keyboard
Waugh! Make it stop! I am banging away (either with hands or head) at The Agency right now and cursing the day I took the project on. Note to self: never work under a short deadline if you can help it :) So, consequently, I'm missing all the cool monster movies on the tube and ruing the day I was born. Ruing, I tells ya. But at least the final product could be pretty interesting - especially the first chapter ;)

Spycraft News
Aside from Agency production, not too much going on in Spycraft-land at the moment. Our initial discussion over Project X's future was very positive and it looks like the publisher has high hopes and much love for the idea, so that of course is a good thing. There are still details to be addressed, but knowing a little more about the format and expectations being laid at my doorstep is very very helpful. We're talking again this weekend, so there should be even more news to share in time.

The reaction to The 60's Decade Book is looking quite positive, which will bode well for the future of the format. Like I've been saying, it adds a rougher edge to Spycraft that I feel helps the game work much more concretely in the 'hard espionage' genre of Clancy and Ludlum for the player. If you haven't seen it, you should be this week - let me tell you, it's worth your hard-earned pennies. Speaking of releases, I *think* Most Wanted should be hitting the shelves too - keep your eyes peeled.

Scott's visit was great - I took him siteseeing in ol' P-town, indulging both his love of books; decent FLGS's; comic shops; large slices of Hawaiian pizza, german food and Hungarian-style hamburgers; Project X; and of playing in large fountains. The weather was beautiful and we had a great time (even after he left his ticket for the train in my car). Overall, I can say with confidence the man feels renewed. Hopefully, we will be able to enjoy his company up in our end of the woods more often.

Speaking of Scott, if you want to throw something new at your players, you should check out this thread for a nasty critter created by The Man himself. Pretty sweet, eh?

Until next time true believers.

Vas is das? Das ist update!
Hello again! Yes, it really is an update. Really. You're not dreaming. Of course, this is the second time I'm writing it thanks to bizarre system failure, so I may be a bit more brief this time. So without further ado...

Alex News
I can't believe it's been nearly a month since I last updated. What a freakin' month. The adage, 'Never say it can't get worse' has been the quote of the month so far - I nearly lost my job a few weeks ago when the people screwing with me at work decided the budget paying for my position needed to be eliminated. I managed, through much creative maneuvering from my boss, to stay gainfully employed, but we continue to be buffeted by the slings and arrows of outrageous idiocy. You know things are bad at work when you realistically must prepare to defend yourself and your colleagues from any comment any person wants to make about you, just because the administration takes any rumors about you to be true without question.

Seriously.

Anyone need to hire a full-time writer, web designer and project manager in the Portland metro area?

Please?

But enough whining. On to the really important stuff - gaming!

Spycraft News
October should be a good month for the Spycraft faithful out there, with not one, but two - yes TWO - new books coming out. First is the much heralded (and probably horribly overhyped) Most Wanted. Yes, the book *does* exist, and yes, it *is* in the Paradigm warehouse right now. It should be released within the next week or so, and be hitting shelves the week after that. I am thrilled to see it happen, because this book should become the cornerstone of the first third-party Spycraft line out there, and because Mark, myself, and all the folks at Paradigm busted our ass to make it a reality. Stuff you can expect to see:

*A new prestige class - the Terrorist!
*New mastermind options, such as new agendas, threat resources and rules
*Rules for crowds, crowd behavior, and terrorizing them
*A new system for your villains - notoriety - that will make bad guys even badder.
*New feats for performing all sorts of villainous stunts

and the bread and butter:

*18 fully developed NPCs for use as masterminds, henchmen or foils in your Spycraft games. Each villain is given a one page dossier, which may be handed out to your players at the beginning of the mission; a complete write-up detailing their current agendas; organization patterns; combat and advancement strategies; stats for use at 3 different levels of challenge; hooks for using them in your game; and a mission seed to draw them in to existing Spycraft campaigns.

The other release this month is the Sixties decade book, a very-well assembled and executed look into one of the most influential espionage periods of the twentieth century. Beyond the historical and contextual bits, there's stuff for forming era-specific campaigns, a huge set of threats and adventure seeds, a breakdown of the world's political and social turmoil, and a kickass rules chapter detailing not only how EVERYTHING from Spycraft works in the 60's, but also how every NEW rule in this book teleports to the current day. I'm hearing the first reports of it appearing in stores today. It's a great book for more realistically flavored campaigns, and it was cursed from the start. I won't get into specifics, but everything short of God himself descending and smiting the entire team happened during the production. Kudos to BD, Scott, Patrick, Clayton, Rob and (very little kudos here) myself for seeing it done. Get it if you love the Cold War, the Vietnam era, classic Bond films, or just really cool setting books. Only gripe I have is I DIDN'T GET CREDITED SOMEHOW!!! Granted, half of my 20k words on the book came from my initial Africa and Faceman/Snoop efforts, but what a bummer :(

Meanwhile, I have recently finished my eeeevil contributions to Stargate: System Lords and am moving on to The Agency. As you may also know, I've taken over part of the moderation duties on the Spycraft boards, so don't make me regulate on your asses...

Other Gamey Goodness
In other news, I just found out today, that Project X has been green lighted and we'll be entering contract negotiations this weekend! Whoohoo! More as it develops...

My good friend Will Hindmarch has completed the arduous task of Smuggler's Run, no thanks to me. Apparently he got shorted by a contributing writer entirely and had to pick up 20k words he didn't expect to have. D'oh! But knowing Will, this will undoubtably kick ass. Well, I have some classes in there at least - I expect you all to read them and tell me how much more powerful they are than standard DnD classes :)

Also this weekend, the Studios will be having a very special guest - Mr. Scott Gearin himself! Scott's coming up NW-way to visit with colleagues, and he'll be in town Sunday and Monday. I'm sure we will be hitting Powell's (largest bookstore this side of the Mississippi), eating gigantic burgers topped with eggs, cheese, and all sorts of pork products, doing our usual BSing and some work on Project X. I can't wait :)

Scott's visit is proof of one of the most kickass things about the d20 boom - it's put the NW on the map as far as gaming goes. When I was growing up, the games I loved were always made so far away - England, Lake Geneva Wisconsin, you know...but now I can feasibly travel to Seattle or Renton and have a business meeting face to face. Just a few weeks ago, I had a chance to go up and meet with the guys from Mythic Dreams (who are behind a little ENnie nominated game, Dark Inheritance) to talk shop and drink some beers with my buddy (and Most Wanted co-writer) Mark Christensen, whose day job is with Privateer Press. It really is awesome to do games, even if they don't pay much...er, anything significant. Now if we can only get Gencon up here, my plan will nearly be complete....

On the Game Table...uh, Screen: Final Fantasy Tactics
This update's OtGT is unusual, in that we're dealing with a different animal: the video game. Like many of my fellow isolated nerds, growing up in the hood with no other local DnD players left me high and dry for gaming experiences. But in 1989, my solitary little nerd dreams were answered with the release of a game called Final Fantasy. It was everything I loved about gaming wrapped up in a colorful, strategic and engrossing story, that I could play on my own. Many nights were spent in my basement, in front of my 30 year old TV, grinding away at Warmechs and Hydras and Ogres in my quest to vanquish Chaos and save the world. Over the following years, I played many other great Final Fantasy games, such as FFII, (the fantastic) Final Fantasy III and (the downright amazing) Final Fantasy VII. Rarely did I finish these games, but I found so much entertainment in just *playing* them that I didn't care. The experience grew more and more satisfying with each system, and continued as I got older.

But all the hype surrounding Final Fantasy VII almost overshadowed what is perhaps the best Final Fantasy, and one of the greatest game purchases I have ever made - Final Fantasy Tactics. Many wrote it off intially for its foregoing of the RPG genre for a tactical combat game, or it's retro sprite-based graphics instead of FFVII's flashy 3-d modeling, or the almost childlike look of the characters. But those of us who gave this little game a chance found a story that was engrossing and very much adult-oriented, characters that were intriguing and well rounded, and a tactical challenge unlike anything seen in video games before.

FFT starts off as a confession of an old man, telling a story that he knows is heretical - a story of a great man who changed the world of Ivalice forever, but never was in any book. You, of course, are this unsung hero - the son of a powerful noble family whose idealism and thirst for justice leads to your being cast out from the family and the rift between you and your best friend Delita, and ultimately your rise to greatness in your fight against an ancient evil. FFT is heavy on plot - so much so you'll want to check an FAQ online to keep up with the spotty translation - centering around a war between 2 princes fighting for custodianship of a princess who is too young to control the throne. This conflict sparks a gigantic war between their armies - one of noble families, the other of commoner men-at-arms who are now unemployed following the end of a previous war. The cast is huge, with much Machiavellian maneuvering and deception, assassination, torture, hostage taking and blood (heretofore unseen in Final Fantasy games).

What's so cool about FFT is it's party management system. Like it's predecessor, Final Fantasy V (which was unreleased here in the US), and the upcoming Final Fantasy X-2, FFT uses the Job system. Essentially, Jobs are like classes, except that you can freely move from one to the other during battles. During a battle, you gain both experience points which raise your character level, and Job points which you can spend to gain the use of abilities within that job. As you gain levels in certiain jobs, other ones are opened to you. With these purchased abilities, you can then mix and match to create unique and powerful characters. Each character has 2 action abilities (such as special attacks and spells), the first of which is that of the current job, the second which is selected by the player; a reaction ability (like a counter attack); a passive ability (such as the ability to equip certain gear, increase the Job Points gained from an action, or increase attacks or defense); and a movement ability (such as teleportation, flight, increased movement or move-HP increase powers). So for instance, my main character currently is a Knight, which gives him the Battle Skill ability to destroy enemy armor and weapons; the Monk's Punch Art gives him ranged powers and special deadly attacks; the Samurai's Blade Grasp allows him to evade most physical attacks; the Ninja's Two Swords lets him fight with 2 blades; and the Monk's Move-HP Up heals him as he moves around the grid. There's literally an infinate combination of abilities to be used, nearly all of which are useful given the right situations.

FFT has been so influential that it has created its own market. Disgaea: Hour of Darkness and Final Fantasy Tactics Advance are only the most recent games that hope to carry on the high standards and leap the high bar this game set over 6 years ago. Fantatical fans (like myself) religiously look for a game that can hope to capture the magic of this wonderful game. I have once again returned to play after getting stuck a few years ago on a critical battle - in 3 weeks, I have logged over 55 hours of game time, a number unheard of since I was playing Final Fantasy back in 1989. Best of all, you can find this game for cheap - it's been rereleased as a Playstation Greatest Hit and can be had at any major video game or chain retailer, usually for less than $15. So if you have a PS2 or Playstation, you owe it to yourself to give this challenging and engrossing little game a whirl - it's definately worth the price of admission.