Rafe's 20 Month Birthday
Our intrepid hero is now 20 months old! Whee!
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Doctor Who AITAS: Feet of Flesh, Feet of Steel
Doug GMed Cubicle 7's Doctor Who Adventures in Time and Space RPG for Irfan and I for the first time and it was an enjoyable night. For Irfan this was the first time someone other than me was the gamemaster.
We played Fox and Olujimi just as they were stranded on the planet Klaris in the far future after hunting and failing to detain the big game hunter Breybrooke who was driven insane, corrupted by alien technology he had unearthed in Kenya in the year 1977.
Episode 01
Klaris
The game began as the duo was dining with their impromptu host Hermis, a Klarisian who served them haphis, a floating and slowly-spinning ball of edible mass that replenished itself as it was being scooped by cutlery. Olujimi thought it would taste more like cheese but it did not. Fox just ate away in silence.
Stranded on Klaris
City guards knocked on Hermis' door, and the guard leaded, a woman named Hollis, insisted that the newcomers who helped fight off Breybrooke be brought before their leaders. The guards were heavily hooded and gazed only at the floor. Hollis took them through the Klarisian city with domed buildings, columns and floating light globes. Olujimi and Fox were brought to a tall chamber with alien sculptures that floated and appeared to slightly move. Obus, a hooded man wearing elaborate robes and a tall collar awaited them there.
Doctor Who AITAS: Fox and Olujimi
Irfan and I made player characters for Doctor Who Adventures in Time and Space RPG. We might be playing the characters Doctor Simon Olujimi and Max Fox soon, game mastered by Doug.
Here is their backstory and how they came to be travelling with the Doctor:
Big game hunter Lord Percival Breybrooke was on a safari in the Kenyan jungle in 1977 when he was corrupted by alien tech that he had unwittingly unearthed. The alien tech grafted itself onto him and drove him insane. He went on a killing spree, shooting humans and animals with his arm-grafted energy weapon.
Doctor Olujimi was the one treating injured villagers. All of a sudden, a man mysteriously popped out of nowhere, with a burnt out wrist Vortex Manipulator. This temporal event somehow activated a similar time device on Lord Breybrooke's alien graft and he was shunted into another time in a burst of light. The newcomer had no memory of who he was, but he had a holocard on him that read, "Max Fox, Robot Mechanic" with the date "3027 A.D." written on the back. Even bereft of memory, Max repaired the Vortex Manipulator and discovered that it had only enough power for two additional jumps with two passengers. They decided to stop Lord Breybrooke together by chasing him through time. By using the Vortex Manipulator's time sensors to lock on to Breybrooke's temporal signature, they jumped back in time and cornered him 100 million years B.C., where he had been killing dinosaurs at random. But he escaped to the far future where he hunted alien citizens of an extrasolar planet named Klaris. Lord Breybrooke succeeded in escaping them once more, and the duo was stranded on this alien planet.
The TARDIS appeared. The Doctor then helped Fox and Olujimi with their immediate plight and took them as Companions. The Doctor realised that they were men out of time and wished to return them where they belong, but dangerous circumstances kept getting in their way... like Autons, Daleks and Cybermen (where Max Fox's Robot Mechanic skills were invaluable, again even though he was an amnesiac).
And they were still looking to thwart the time rogue Percival Breybrooke.
Eclipse Phase: A Jovian Jovially Joins
Last time on Eclipse Phase: Clouds of a Morning Star... the Gamera Security hypercorp gang was involved in several events, namely Cable played by Kai having a freefall date with Gretchen Ambelina of Pax Familae down through the lethal atmosphere of Venus, and Darren's AGI DANAI having to perform an impromptu psychosurgery on the other AGI Wandering Ina, played by Andrew.
But I was absent because of Eid vacation and stuff. In-character, Hokusai was busy setting up a new online ID and creating an art community site called the Digital Easel to boost his F-Rep and attempt intelligence gathering there. (Or is he?)
This week!
We were met by Captain Christoph de Beers an envoy from the Jovian Republic with military background, played by Matthew. Christoph's superior Ambassador Marie MacDonnoll will be attending the invitation-only Marquis d’Homem-Christos' art show, which will showcase the sculpture he acquired from the mysterious aliens called the Factors to be held at the ballroom of the Cumulus Hotel at the aerostat Aphrodite Prime.
Gamera Security was recommended by one Jovian Major Kate Stackhoff (from episode #somenumber which I did not participate in) back in Jupiter space, who noticed that Gamera matched the profile of another troubleshooter hypercorp she was familiar with named the Fastball Express. (All the forks all the time!)
Salvage Ops Box Art
I have been working on artwork for card prototypes for a card game entitled Salvage Ops by DWD Studios. The game allows players to take charge of four space salvage corporations. They play the cards to explore, encounter threats, retrieve salvagable gear (see my Google+ post here for samples of the gear) and win points.
The box art can be seen below.
I hope this game sees production soon!
Update (30th Aug 2013): The game is now available at GameCrafters!
Pacific Rim Heroclix Battle
Ivan and Kai of the GOKL gaming group dropped by to visit us for Aidilfitri.
The Aidilfitri visit is of course an excuse for some gaming shenanigans.
Once upon a time - about a month ago - I asked Kai if he knew where to get any Pacific Rim Heroclix figures. At the time, there was none in town. When his order from Noble Knight Games arrived, he offered to sell two figures so Irfan and I can play! The jaeger I picked was Gipsy Danger and the kaiju I picked was Knifehead. This game needs more jaegers and kaiju. A Tacit Ronin clix would be awesome.
But since a host of clix were arrayed on the dinner table, Kai taught Irfan to play.
The Many Yops
Irfan's Atok and Opah came to visit over the weekend.
Here's a picture of the three Yops together.
Apart from Atok's car having clutch problems less than 10 klicks from reaching our place, there were no glitches during the visit. They picked up Irfan from school when my weekday exam schedule did not permit me to do so.
Miridon - with Stats!
I owe this blog a Miridon stats entry. Miridon is a sea monster that appeared in the Droids animated series.
Miridon
This big aquatic carnivorous reptile was seen swimming in the oceans of Tarnoonga used by pirates to dispose of unwanted guests, and also trying to eat said pirates who were not really smart to begin with. It spends its time in rocky caverns and crevices underwater
Edge of the Empire Core Rulebook
Upon arriving home from Pasir Mas after an overnight drive via Jeli, Gerik and Kuala Kangsar, I discovered this note from the post office right outside the door of the house.
So Irfan and I went to pick it up. It was a box and I was ecstatic at the size, shape and weight of it. Even if I was cautious about it. With my luck, it could have easily been some court summons because I'd accidentally strangled some duck to death 15 years ago or some weird thing like that.
Aidilfitri plus Engagement at Pasir Mas
Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri, Maaf Zahir & Batin from Irfan, Ain and I.
As per the alternating location format our family uses, we spend this year's Aidilfitri in Pasir Mas.
We miss Atok, Opah, Ayah Cik, Cik Dik, Yaya and Adik. Hope to have a Hari Raya together some day.
A big news for this holiday season is that Irfan's Cik Emma gets engaged on the third day of Aidilfitri.
Selamat Hari Raya 2013
We wanted to take this opportunity to wish everyone Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri and Eid Mubarak!
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Hokusai's New Morph
In Eclipse Phase roleplaying game, I play the Neo-octopus Hokusai Tarnungshaut. Hokusai used to be in an uplifted octopus in an enhanced octomorph body.
Used to.
After his death by postal bomb, he was loaded into a worker pod morph. Later, he farcasted into an arachnoid morph on Venus and died again there. Without knowing he died there once, Hokusai farcasted again to Venus, this time in a slitheroid morph. This is what he looks like now.
Using the fake Mesh ID Heinrich Ausfahrt Plissken, he is now part of the Fastball Express contingent (using the Gamera Security hypercorp front) investigating stuff among the aerostat cities of Venus.
While on Venus, Hokusai - after being a freelance troubleshooter in Fastball Express for many months - has decided to go back into the public eye as an artist, but this time with another fake online persona, and perhaps an art studio hypercorp. He feels like being safe from the Nine Lives cartel has made him slack off as an artist. All his uploads into the art social Mesh sites have been uninspiring in the interim. Will this catch the attention of Nine Lives? Will this inspire Hokusai as an artist?
In any case, it's time to buy some f-rep.
The One with the Actual Birthday and then the Party
So on Yaya's fifth birthday, we went to the Boonshoft Museum of Discovery in Dayton as her birthday treat. We had originally thought about going to the zoo but the fact that it was a cold and rainy day (seriously? This has never happened in July to have a spring-like rainy day) forced a change of plans. However, it turned out to be an awesome experience, and since we are now members of the museum, we look forward to repeat trips there.
I love the above photo as you see how happy Adik is for his sister. Also contained in this entry are a few photos taken a week or so later when we had Yaya's birthday party. Vin and I were so busy running around on that day that we took maybe 5-6 photos in total. For the whole event. Craziness! So anyway, minimal chatter, just mostly photos.
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Fun Yaya and Adik pictures from July
So it seems we took way too many photos in July and there were a few with the kids together that I couldn't fit into either of the "usual" blog entries, and they were too cute to not post. So here it is. No stories, no information. Just some gratuitous pictures of the kids (and I snuck in some photos taken during Vin's birthday as well).
Peter and Tony
It's been months since I used ink and watercolours, so I drew Peter Quill and Tony Stark to flex the my traditional artwork muscles.
Can't wait for Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy next year!
Night's Black Agents: Hipster Pirates of the Celtic Sea
GOKL returned to playing the modern age vampire conspiracy game Night's Black Agents after a brief hiatus. Darren - Eclipse Phase's infomorph DANAI - joined us as a burnt Russian agent Nikolai Kaidanovsky, a medical doctor. (No, Darren had not seen Pacific Rim.)
The Story So Far
The agents had been investigating Emartech Pharmaceuticals, the corporation which was experimenting and mass producing a certain type of blood. This blood had been tainted with a mutated mycoplasma haemocanis virus and had been used as a possible biological agent. In Sweden, the group had recently encountered a white supremacist terrorist group whose members were infused with this blood to wreak havoc during Eurovision 2013. The blood gave their operatives superhuman powers.
The previous session was not blogged about here. Why? Because I failed a roll during an impromptu seduction scene on the head of human resources of Emartech in Cardiff, Wales. And Misha had to bail Zlatan out of the hotel causing both IDs to be burnt. It was an embarassment. Sami and Misha was calling for Zlatan to have a "Walk with Zlatan" all the way driving back to London.
And Suddenly...
Elsewhere, the Russian, Kaidanovsky, had been investigating old Soviet experiments on extrasensory perception from the 1980s when he received a burn notice from his superior. The General informed him that a Norwegian container ship Heimdall was en route from Sweden to Wales. This mysterious cargo had been hastily taken out of Sweden and sent to Emartech in Cardiff. He was told to meet up with freelance agents in London who had discovered documents pertaining to his investigation while they were in Sweden.
The team, upon arriving in London, received an online dead drop communique from Hagar Thurson, their Swedish ally, telling them to expect Nikolai at the airport.
They pick up Nikolai in their Lada Niva and interrogated him as Zlatan drove around London. Abraham van Helsing, the surviving borzoi hound, sniffed Nikolai and gave him his thumbs up, though he did not have any proper thumbs. Although Nikolai kept calling Russia the Soviet Union for some reason, they cleared him to join the team.
Planning Begins
When informed of the Heimdall, the agents realised that this was the ship that was en route to Cardiff port that the NGO there - an Emartech dupe - was supposed to protest against when it docked. Zlatan thought they should intercept and try to find out what's on the ship before they entered UK waters. If it was meant for Emartech, then there might be a clue to the haemocanis virus-infected blood that had been going around Europe.
The team thought to call their hacker Jacob (whose player Macx was absent - and left his PC visiting his Point of Stability in Italy) to hack the AIS database to track the course of the Heimdall, but Sami did it immediately via the Marine Traffic website. (Actually Sami's player Ivan did it on his tablet during the game and provided live AIS tracking of ships in the Celtic Sea, which was pretty freaking cool. Night's Black Agent is definitely a game where players need to use mobile devices as live props on the fly.)
Misha discovered where her British Intelligence handler Emilia Sanderson kept a rigid inflatable boat away from prying eyes and clandestinely "borrowed" it as well as other nautical gear from its dock for the group's seagoing caper.
In the meantime, Zlatan shopped around for weapons and tactical gear. He found some Balkan gunrunners running MP-7s outside London. They might have been Balkans but Zlatan wasn't sure. They might have been from Peoria for all he knew. On the way back to base, a police car attempted to intercept him. But Zlatan employed his Afghanistan War driving skills to weave through the night traffic and lose the cops.
Operation Begins
Everyone wore Arabic keffiyeh, night vision goggles and a kerchief over their mouth - even Abe the dog. Zlatan thought the keffiyeh made everyone look like hipsters.
So some time after midnight, when the Heimdall was 10 miles from the UK shores, the hipster pirates of the Celtic Sea fouled up the container ship's propellers by dumping a steel cable mesh netting onto the path of the ship. They infiltrated over the side and onto the Heimdall, leaving Nikolai and Abe to guard the boat which was tethered to the larger ship by cables.
Sami with an MP7 and Misha with a sword stormed the bridge while Zlatan covered them with his starlight scoped-sniper rifle. Sami's fluency in Arabic convinced them that they were some sort of unlikely modern day Barbary Pirates - even if Misha looked very obviously an Asian woman. The captain told them that the cargo they obviously wanted was below deck and was guard by two Welshmen. Zlatan smashed their radio before proceeding.
They raided the cargo bay and discovered a structure made for medical experiments, constructed from two cargo containers. Powerful UV floodlights shone upon it. The first Welshman, Jones, immediately saw that they had been boarded and yelled to his partner the second Welshman also named Jones. The second Jones quickly slammed the med bay's door shut from within. Zlatan shot the first Jones in the chest before melting off the med bay's door lock with liberal application of thermite.
The team swept into the container, weapons aimed and in full intimidation mode. The compartment had biological lab equipment and a computer terminal. Another locked, heavier class of security door led into a much more secure clean room. The second Jones surrendered and told them that they had absolutely no idea what they're dealing with.
Sami pulled up the CCTV feed from inside the clean room on the terminal.
Within were a series of cages. Within each cage was a dog. Wild dogs.Their eyes were red and bloodshot. As soon as the team activated the monitor, every dog - all of them unmoving and maintaning the same waiting stance - turned to look at the camera as if they knew they were being watched. It was unsettling. Why were these being delivered to Emartech Pharmaceuticals in Cardiff?
Stay tuned for the next exciting session of Night's Black Agents.
Rafe's 19 Month Birthday
During the whirlwind that was Ramadan, where Yaya and Papa both had (real) birthdays, Adik sneaked in to being 19 months old!
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Pacific Rim: Tacit Ronin
So I quickly painted the PPDC Jaeger Tacit Ronin, which was seen for about 0.4 seconds on screen in the movie Pacific Rim, Guillermo Del Toro's mecha vs kaiju movie which I immensely enjoyed by the way.
Check out the larger image of Tacit Ronin on my Tumblr.