A YT-1760 freighter designed and drawn by Jeff Carlisle

A Bad Example In The Spacelanes, Part 1

Last Sunday I ran my first face-to-face, over-the-table Star Wars RPG game since 1999, with the GoKL crew. It was a tramp freighter campaign, set in the Rebellion Era, using classic D6 rules. I was quite anxious about it seeing it’s been a while since I was in practice – discounting the IRC chat-based Sabredart and Chronicles of the Wild Gundark campaigns I had several years ago. There were seven of us. I was gamemaster and there were six players. We rolled 6-sided dice to determine the outcome of our actions, and the players decided what to do based on the scenarios and encounters I described to them over the game. It was fantastic collaborative storytelling. Ultimately, this was the story that came out at the end of the game: Episode 1: Pilot, or Lack Thereof Long time ago in a galaxy far, far away… the galaxy is in turmoil. […]

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Z-6 rotary blaster

Death On The Outpost Moon

Clone Wars Episode 5 This week, the GM decided to try out a one-shot scenario. He assigned no-name clone troopers for the players. A sergeant and a bunch of rookies who were tasked with housekeeping of a listening outpost on a Rishi moon. He made it clear that they were the first to know if a Separatist invasion force was on its way to sneak up and bomb the crap out of the clone trooper production world of Kamino. The outpost was descibed nicely by the GM: it was a small drab gray installation with a landing platform and large communication dishes, perched at the edge of a rocky cliff filled with holes. Initially the players did great in giving each trooper a distinct personality despite their common appearance. They picked out quirky names for their PCs like “Sergeant O’Niner”, “Cutup”, “Echo”, “Hevy” and “Fives”. Then, a meteor storm occurred. […]

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Perhaps it wants a job

Yellow Avian Mascot at Work

When we first found the new office after some scouting last December, there was a bird hanging about, chirping its song at the rear window of the place. It was mostly yellow with black markings. Its eyes were red with black pupils. More often than not, it’s been there each morning or afternoon whenever I’m at work. Any idea what species this critter is?

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Padmé finds herself smack dab in the middle of things blowing up... again

Riders of the Malevolence

Clone Wars Episode 4 The GM announced that this week was going to be a standard dungeon crawl, to which everyone shrugged and went, “Meh.” However, after recapping last week’s session, he started out with a bang by shifting the scene to two new PCs. Senator Padmé Amidala of Naboo and her protocol droid See Threepio were both on their way to a secret meeting with the Intergalactic Banking Clan, an enemy faction, when suddenly they reverted back in normal space right in the middle of last week’s closing skirmish. The PCs asked the GM why “Intergalactic” when they were only in a single galaxy? The GM reminded them of the map in Episode II: Attack of the Clones, which displayed a main spiral galaxy and at least one dwarf satellite galaxy. So, “Intergalactic” was technically correct. Anakin’s player thought they’d better update all the official sources with this tidbit […]

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Y-wing hotdogger aces

Strikeforce: Shadow Squadron

Clone Wars Episode 3 After the last adventure, in which the party gathered intel on the Malevolence, the GM now changed the flavour of the campaign from a rescue to a starfighter combat scenario. It was a straightforward mission. A squadron of fighters will take off from the Resolute, take a short cut through a nebula, then attack the Malevolence targeting its command tower at the other end of the nebula before it can destroy the Kaliida Shoals Medical Station, with its load of hospitalised clone troopers and cadre of doctors and medics. There were supposed to be only four players this session. The PCs snapped up by the players this week were Anakin Skywalker, Ahsoka Tano, and two of the clone pilots named Broadside and Matchstick. The GM thought it would be awesome to give everyone a fighter from the original movies, like the Koensayr Y-wing. But since this […]

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Hishgraphics H

Thirty-Nine Hours Is How Long…

… I’ve been awake with only half an hour of sleep at only one instance, spending 24 of those hours straight in the office with quite a heavy workload on a two-day deadline while having to travel all over the city to help get the work done. I feel like there is a nest of bugs in my chest. My reaction time is slowed. Just over an hour ago, I looked up in the night sky which had a thin cloud cover. This gave the full moon a diffused but bright yellow glow which bathed the countryside on my way back to the city from KLIA. Then, an aircraft which was a mere silhouette crossed the moon’s disc. From the back seat, Irfan saw it too. It was a unique and beautiful sight. I’m exhausted. Good night everyone.

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Clones in vacuum

The Orbital Debris Field Manhunt

Clone Wars Episode 2 Obviously last week had merely been the gaming group’s test run using a stand alone scenario in a single session. This week, the GM brought out the big guns. Literally. The Republic fleet has been under attack by a colossal capital ship, known as the Malevolence. Which is why this scenario was titled “Rising Malevolence”. Incidentally the Malevolence is a 7.9 km-long Subjugator-class heavy cruiser, which means the first ship of the line, the Subjugator, was still floating about somewhere in the galaxy. Great job by the GM, cause this gives the rest of us another ship to play with in our own campaigns. There were seven players around the table. And the GM split them up into two groups. The first group’s PCs consisted of the Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker, his Togruta padawan Ahsoka Tano and the trusty astromech droid Artoo-Detoo. The second group played […]

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The King with two bodyguards

Battle At The Coral Moon

Clone Wars Episode 1 The scenario titled “Ambush” was designed so that the Player Characters (PCs), on the side of the Galactic Republic, set down on the moon known as Rugosa in a diplomatic mission. Rugosa’s terrain was a thick forest of a multitude of hard, gigantic coral structures. If there was a sea once, it probably had dried out a long time ago. Tiny airborne subspecies of the neebray, like little sparrows, flit between the coral branches. Quite an exotic setting described by the Game Master (GM). The PCs task was simple: Land on Rugosa and make the planned rendezvous with the Toydarian King Katuunko, then persuade the good king to actively support the Republic in the war against the Separatists.The lead PC was Yoda, a Jedi Master with a fair amount of dice in his Force skills. He was aided by a trio of clone troopers, Thire, Jek […]

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There Is A Hole In The Bucket Dear Liza Dear Liza

First things first: SPOILER ALERT… This entry will be discussing the series finale of Battlestar Galactica, the double-length episode entitled “Daybreak, Part 2”. But before the day breaks, there is nothing but utter darkness and despair. Death and destruction. As ably illustrated by Tricia Helfer below: [[image:galactica-finale03.jpg:When things get bad, Head Six goes nuts:center:0]] DID I MENTION THE SPOILER ALERT? It’s been dark for quite a while now. First there was that extinction of the Human race with only less than 40,000 survivors being pursued by genocidal robots thing. Then there is facing the reality of having to live out their entire lives in space boxed up in small ships with dwindling resources… if they don’t find Earth. Finally, just before the mid-season break they find Earth and it’s a radioactive wasteland. So, after the darkness, when does day break for the story? Was it ultimately enjoyable? [[image:galactica-finale02.jpg:Admiral Adama thinks […]

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A Universe Ahead To Explore

Coming to television this fall is the third series to be set in a very well known, visual-media-based science fiction universe. This time instead of having a proper base of operations (in this galaxy or another), the characters are trapped on a automated ancient starship travelling out of and away from the Milky Way galaxy. That’s one way to put your characters in a spot and have them undergo weekly adventures, I guess. Recently the teaser trailer of this upcoming series was released, showing us a glimpse of some actors involved in the pilot episode. Here’s Robert Carlyle. [[image:sgu-teaser01.jpg:Holy crap! It’s Begbie!:center:0]] Here’s Lou Diamond Philips. [[image:sgu-teaser02.jpg:The Aquaman pilot got flushed… here’s hoping for a hit series:center:0]] Stargate Universe! A team of scientists and military personnel discover an Ancient vessel traveling from galaxy to galaxy — but have no way of returning home to Earth, according to the blurb. [[image:sgu-teaser03.jpg::center:0]] […]

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Aiman Joins Irfan In The Pool

Earlier this month, Irfan’s cousin Aiman came to join Irfan for a quick dunk in the pool. Ain whipped up some bihun goreng with keropok, and off we went to a mini-picnic. Aiman came prepared with arm floats and trunks. At first he eyes the giant bathtub, probably wondering if it was scientifically possible to have a bathtub that big. [[image:2009-03-aiman-swims01.jpg:… but the trunks are a couple of sizes too big:center:0]] Then, his dad, also known as Irfan’s Ayah Long, began submergence procedure. Theoretically, he would not be taken to crush depth. Not even on a lark. [[image:2009-03-aiman-swims02.jpg:10 degrees down bubble:center:0]] Meanwhile, the elder Irfan orbits his cousin, at the same time having his own brand of fun. Splashing water. Spinning in the pool. Couple of other stuff too…[[image:2009-03-aiman-swims03.jpg:It was a nice, sunny day:center:0]] Thanks to Youtube, Irfan now knows the Mark Harris style of propelling yourself through the water. […]

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There’s News, And Then There’s News

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the city… KUALA LUMPUR — Amid an excited Malaysian public, Proton today launched the first of three variants of its latest model, the MPV Exora.[[image:cheap_exora.jpg:Cheap car is cheap:right:0]] The ‘C’ variant (for Cheap) comes without the frills traditionally included by car companies, like engine, transmission, seats, doors, windows and steering wheel. (The other two variants, “Premium” and “Standard”, will be launched next month) Proton managing director Datuk Syed Zainal Abdin Tahir said that the MPV was designed for families which were conscious about doing things economically. “While the other two variants, with the usual package that includes items some see as ‘basic’ would be sold at around RM80,000, the ‘C’ variant is sold at below RM5,000. For more news like that visit Nose4news, a clever Malaysian news parody website. “Abominable Snowman seeks name change”? “Loss of Life main cause of death among males, females”? “Crime industry announces 400,000 job vacancies”? […]

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Dog Carcass In Alley This Morning, Tire Tread On Burst Stomach

[[image:200903-watchmen1.jpg:L-R Peacemaker, Nightshade, Captain Atom, Thunderbolt, Blue Beetle and The Question:center:0]]The limited series comic book Watchmen was released by DC Comics more than 20 years ago. Written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Dave Gibbons, this comic was the start of a new age in the medium. Along with its contemporary, Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns, it deconstructs the superhero genre by showing us what extreme conditions can produce costumed crimefighters, what kind of personalities they have and what happens to them when they are considered illegal… all existing in an alternate 1985 timeline where Nixon is still the president of the United States and the world is living in the shadow of imminent nuclear war. Because of the very rich and detailed storylinetold within the space of 12 issues and several fictional documents per issue, such as book exceprt, interviews, letters, news and magazine clippings to support the […]

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Undoubtedly The Best Malay Movie Ever Made

In January I promised I’d take Irfan this month to watch Geng: Pergembaraan Bermula (The Gang: The Adventure Begins), a new computer animated, feature-length movie which also features the hyperactive preschooling twins Upin and Ipin from their eponymous computer generated TV series on TV9. Little did I know that I was about to behold THE best Malay movie I’ve had the pleasure of seeing in my years of being sort-of alive in this particular corner of the multiverse. The overall story was great. The little character moments were great. I laughed dozens of times throughout. And every technical aspect of the filmmaking is leaps and bounds better than 99 percent of any other Malay movie ever made. [[image:gengthemovie1.jpg:The dramatis personae on Sapy’s bullock cart. Sapy! GO!!!!!!:center:0]] The story begins with teenaged friends from the city, Badrol and Lim, who returns to Badrol’s kampung to visit his grandfather during durian season. […]

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The Lunatic Fringe

Both Sila’s and my household have been following J.J. Abram’s brand new TV series Fringe. As per Alias and Lost, I had a feeling it’s not what it advertised itself to be, which would have been about international spies and counterspies, and surviving a plane crash on a deserted island. Warning: SPOILERS, and I’m serious. SPOILERS! [[image:fringe01-feb2009.jpg:Is the tank an application of the alt universe tech?:center:0]]  What Fringe advertised itself was about a department within the Department of Homeland Security, with agents on secondment from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which deal with fringe science to solve their cases. Naturally this caused a lot of people to draw similarities between it and The X-Files. (And having Darin “Flukeman” Morgan as a producer helped accentuate this fact.) The story starts with a pair of FBI Agents Olivia Dunham and John Scott, who gets involved in a case concerning bio-terrorism aboard an […]

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