Erik Scott de Bie

Hail, gracious reader, and welcome to Periodic House Rule of the Day/Week/Whenever (PHRotD/W/W) with Erik Scott de Bie.

(And don't worry, I'll never ever sling that acronym at you ever again. Until next time, at least.)

Today's example is one of my favorite house rules I've been using in my 4e FR game lately:

"Action Roleplaying Bonus" (ARB)( Read more... )

So what does your mighty Passive Insight score of 10 tell you about your favorite WotC authors? Well . . .

http://community.wizards.com/wotc_vetanda/blog/2010/02/08/fr_authors_speak:_captain_obvious

Cheers


(My editor totally posts more than me. Must blog harder!)

I suspect having read a piece of my work, you probably already know the answer to this question, but . . .

http://community.wizards.com/wotc_vetanda/blog/2010/02/05/fr_authors_speak:_hero_or_villain

Cheers

No one ever tells you that forever feels like home . . . sitting all alone inside your head.

Cheers

http://community.wizards.com/wotc_vetanda/blog/2010/02/03/fr_authors_speak:_unexpected_talents

I take full blame for the lack of clarity in my response evoked by the word "improvised," which should be "improvising." :)

And let me just say, Richard Baker as a gunslinger does NOT surprise me in the least. :D :D :D

Cheers

Just sayin'.

Cheers

P.S. I suppose the point of Tool's music is to make you think, which it definitely does for me. I'm sure it's just noise to some folks, though--to each his/her/its own. :)

I found this article today and thought it was quite cool, so I thought I'd share. The tips are mostly for DMs, but players can glean some excellent insight from this as well:

http://www.roleplayingtips.com/readissue.php?number=472#tips

Cheers

An excellent idea, courtesy of my talented editor:

http://community.wizards.com/wotc_vetanda/blog/2010/02/01/fr_authors_speak:_the_zombie_apocalypse

Cheers

Is it just me, or is the guy in Avatar a dead ringer for Matt James?

I mean, looks like him, talks like him, has a similar backstory, i.e., wounded vet goes on to save the world? Y'know, all that.

Cheers

So I finally got around to seeing Avatar. (Finally, because, of course, it’s been out for two months.) And while it isn’t in my mind what I’d call a *good* movie (reasons made obvious below), I enjoyed the heck out of it. Also, I can tell you exactly why it’s so successful and popular.

Basically, this movie is manufactured specifically to please you (like pop music, or network TV, or that first bite of a big mac) and really has about as much literary depth.

( Read more... )

I don't usually seek out my own press (though I really do appreciate all the positive reviews I've been blessed with over the years--I'm glad you guys enjoy my work!), but I rather liked this review of my story in the Realms of the Dead anthology:

http://www.amazon.com/Realms-Dead-Forgotten-Anthology-Haunted/product-reviews/0786953632/ref=cm_cr_pr_redirect?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=0#R12345ZM0Y26AE

It's a pretty exhaustive review of the anthology, and well written. The reviewer's tastes don't always match mine (for instance, I suspect he's of the "don't like" crowd when it comes to Ed Greenwood, an author you either love or don't get), but I think it's a helpful walkthrough of the anthology for the discerning reader. :)

Cheers

I got my flights to and from GenCon in August, and it looks like this time I'll actually be getting in Wednesday before 10 p.m.--more like 7 p.m. Woot!

So who's up for dinner on August 4?

Cheers

I am running a 4e FR campaign, which is being chronicled by one of my players (Ben) here, through the perspective of his heroine, an elf invoker. Check it out!

http://community.wizards.com/zephsright/blog/2010/01/28/journal_of_an_elf_invoker_1

The characters are currently in the Scepter Tower of Spellgard, from which they will branch out to follow one of my numerous plot hooks . . . or else go off elsewhere in the wide Realms to explore and adventure.

Next session will be January 31, at which I hope there will be some considerable action. :)

Cheers

http://www.cbc.ca/arts/books/story/2010/01/28/obit-salinger-jd.html

Yes, another of our great literary masters has passed on. But his talent has won him immortality, so he's not really gone. That offers me some comfort. :)

Rest well, Mr. Salinger, and I hope you found the peace you were so clearly looking for.

Cheers

People often ask me how to go about naming their characters, whether in writing, in gaming, or whatever.

My favorite and most effective method of naming a character (other than sudden insight/inspiration, which you can't control) is three easy steps as follows:

1) Write down the type of character.

2) Think of a word that you associate with the character. Basically, a word that defines the character--either their role in the story, or something that is extremely significant to them.

- If it's a passive sort of character, use a noun.

- If it's active, use a verb.

- If it's a particularly striking character (i.e., one particular physical or mental characteristic), use an adjective.

3) Then just start tweaking the word. Reverse orders, replace a few letters, etc.

Here's an example:

1) Fire genasi swordmage

2) Fire (both a noun and a verb, denoting that she is both cautious and thoughtful, and also fierce when needed)

3) Fira, Fier, Fiera . . . Fiera.

See? Easy.

And also, of course, you think about who else has that name and what they're like. Fiera, for instance, one of the archdevils of the Nine Hells. Fire. Appropriate, no?

What I like about this technique is that it invests the character (subconsciously) with the concept you're getting across. As an example, Arya, heroine in Ghostwalker, comes from "aria," meaning a lone, beautiful song that rises above the rest. "Greyt" comes, obviously, from "great"--the great hero. Rhyn comes from a combination of "run" and "rhyme," appropriate for an avenger with a bardic past.

Now, of course, there are way, WAY more complex names out there (don't ask where Gyl'theryel came from, or, worse, Ruukthalmuramaxamin). But hopefully, this'll get you started if you get stuck on giving your work of art the perfect label.

Cheers


P.S. Apparently, when Bob (you know, Bob) writes a novel, he doesn't name any of the characters initially (mostly because he *hates* naming characters), but rather puts in filler names so that he can do a universal find-and-replace later. So Bill the drow fighter, Steve the Uthgardt barbarian, Melanie the high priestess of Lolth, etc., etc.

And sometimes, the story goes, one of them will slip through. Ahem! :D

Headline reads: "Small survivors pose one of the biggest problems"

The cynical copy editor reads that and says: "Honestly, *damn them* for surivivng, and making things harder for the rest of us!"

I can just see it in the pitch meeting:
"The hook is that children have it bad in Haiti--they pose one of the biggest dilemmas rescuers are running into."
"Ooh, let's lead with a headline juxtaposing the small/big thing."
"That sounds great--go with that!"

At least it's better than their original headline, which was "Children who survived Haiti quake pose big problem in aftermath."

(Ho-boy.)

Cheers

Someone asked me recently if I knew of anyone who had taken a shot at drawing the Fox-at-Twilight. As I do not, I thought I'd toss it out there for anyone else who might have seen some fanart?

(And no, she's not the elf on the cover of Depths of Madness. That's Taslin.)

There are numerous pictures in D&D sourcebooks in which I see her, though none of them are really *her*, you know? Just inspiration. The three best of these for me would be:

1) The Catlord, a creature in the 2e Planes of Chaos boxed set (specifically the Monstrous Compendium Appendix page 13, art by DiTerlizzi)

2) The 3.5 Divine Seeker (in the Player's Guide to Faerun, page 53, art by Carl Frank)

3) The Shadowdancer on page 393 of the Pathfinder Core Rulebook (available as a PDF at Paizo.com for the cheaps, artist unknown to me)

Cheers

Got my hotel for Indy--I was fortunate enough to get a room at the Westin again, like last year.

Good luck, everyone!

Cheers

Signed up for that, too. Y'know, just in case anyone reading this wants to hang out. :)

Cheers

Prereg opened up today, and I've got my 4-day pass.

Now it's just two days before the madcap housing roulette. Yays!

(Remember: 12 noon EST, which is 9 a.m. PST, Tuesday.)

So see y'all there.

Cheers