Its funny, really, because I don’t care greatly for battle scenes in books. Oh, there are some very nicely done ones, and if I am really invested in a particular character I will tensely read through them, but they don’t get my adrenaline going quite as much as roleplaying a scene out. Or just watching a scene play out, as in this case, since I didn’t have a character in the thick of the fighting. It makes me sigh wistfully for the glory days of Elendor and the many fabulous battles in Rohan and Gondor. Unfortunately, epic battles aren’t likely to be happening during Baelor’s range, but at least the lead-up to Daeron’s death will have been suitably grand.

Ahh, text-based roleplaying. So much more fun than fancy graphics.

In any case, if anyone’s curious, point a telnet client to bod.westeros.org:3000. Alternatively, read more about the game on the webpage or the forum.

Of course, some of it doesn’t quite translate to a collaborative environment such as a MUSH, and some doesn’t work so well for having a character that evolves during play. Personally, I like starting with a more-or-less fully fleshed-out character, but I know that a lot of people prefer having more of a sketch to start with and letting the rest come from being on the game and interacting with other players. Both approaches are equally valid, though from the point of view of a game admin, I prefer the former since its easier to deal with at the application stage.

In any case, I think I will have to write up an article on how these ideas could translate to MU*ing, though I am thinking it will show up on the Blood of Dragons webpage rather than here. Given our rather extensive CharGen system, that sort of thing could perhaps be helpful.

About a week ago, he sent some questions (originally, it was supposed to be a discussion with several women, but he had to do it as a montage instead since times conflicted) and last Friday we did the interview over Skype. As usual when I talk ‘in public’, I forgot to breathe and talked a bit too fast, though Elio insists I don’t sound too stupid. So, since I foolishly trust him, here’s the link to the show.

That still holds true when it comes to ‘real’ art, but in the mean time (while I am trying to learn to paint, that is) I have found one way of at least what I think are pretty good representations of my characters: Second Life.

It sort of started with GRRM’s Second Life appearance. Elio already had an account, though he had only used it a few times to check things out, but for this event we spent a few Linden dollars to make his avatar look more presentable. And it was then that it hit me that this could be a really neat way of creating character portraits. As a result, I ended up creating an account, and now I’ve spent more than a few hours the last few months creating a custom avatar shape for each of my characters. In addition to that, we’ve purchased skin, hair and pretty clothes, and the first few portrait pictures are now up in the Art gallery.

Yesterday, Blood of Dragons, our A Song of Ice and Fire MUSH, opened for roleplay. Granted, its a beta opening, not a full opening, and this is even a bit of a sneak-start since the official start will happen when the first ships return from Dorne with part of Daeron’s forces and the Dornish hostages. That will be in a week or so.

But, these buts aside, we have a game!