Initiative in D&D

I'm liking the Ars Ludi blog more and more. It turns out it's by the guy who came up with the weird new RPG 'Microscope' which I've thought about getting.

In this post, about initiative, he talks about the difference between 4th Ed D&D initiative and older versions and how it changes how people play the game. A subtle point that can make a big difference in whether people approach the game cooperatively or not.

My painting sploded

I like this piece by Gregory Euclide, which uses two things I like -- miniature scenery and sort of negative-space-pieced-together-flimsy-surfaces...I don't have a word for the second thing.

http://thisiscolossal.com/2011/06/new-work-from-gregory-euclide/

In other news, I'll be reposting things from This Is Colossal until I get tired of it.

Dice people

I'm getting a kick out of browsing the archives of the blog This is Colossal. Here's some neat human figure art I found, people made of dice: http://thisiscolossal.com/2011/06/kim-hyuns-dice-figures/

New Bad Machinery: Lonely

Bad Machinery has a new story going on: The Case of the Lonely One.

I really like Bad Machinery. I like it so much that it's painful to wait for the next episode. I like to wait a few weeks instead and then catch up.

There's something about the way the characters quip at each other; the way their art shows their character. And the counterpoint of the adult teachers vs. the schoolkids is always fun.

I was rereading Giant Days, another spinoff of Scary Go Round, too, and remembering how much I liked it. With that one, I enjoy the college setting and the idea of new friends banding together against bad guys.

I guess I should try to join a forum or something. I feel like these are tremendous comics that you don't hear enough about.

Boardgames as free PDFs, from Cheapass Games

Cheapass Games, who I admire for Kill Doctor Lucky, have put several of their older games online as free PDFs. Have a look.

http://cheapass.com/freegames

Arrested for crossing the street

It takes a jury of driving white people, I guess, to convict a black lady of a crime when a  driver who admits he'd been drinking hits her 4-year old. This article puts that case in the context of road design: when you lack a car, and your bus stop is across the street from your apartment complex, are you going to walk several blocks to get to a crossing?

http://www.grist.org/infrastructure/2011-07-20-when-design-kills-the-criminalization-of-walking

Hermione Granger

What if the Harry Potter books had focused on Hermione as the main character?

http://globalcomment.com/2011/in-praise-of-hermione-granger-series/

I've read cogent criticism of Harry Potter before, and this what-if article reflects my favorite argument against the series: that Harry is treated as amazing, but never actually does much to deserve what he gets. He's a Chosen One and that's all. I hadn't really thought about who actuallly saves the day, though....

Glenn Beck books reviewed on New York Review of Books

Highly entertaining review of Glenn Beck. Kinda a review of his whole public life, actually.

http://lareviewofbooks.org/post/7114122761/magicland

A fatherly story

I laughed, I cried: 

http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/my-father-is-an-african-immigrant-and-my-mother-is-a-white-girl-from-kansas-and-i-am-not-the-president-of-the-united-states/Content?oid=8932130