Thursday, February 17, 2011

L is for lightsaber!
So, I said I would update this ASAP, but I didn't. Anywho, here goes:

 The lightsaber is an extension of the force wielder that uses it, but it goes beyond even that. A samurai uses his sword as an extension, but a lightsaber becomes a conduit; a conduit of the wielder's combat prowess, and even more so a conduit of the Force. Both Jedi and Sith use lightsabers, as well as some other Force sensitives that are not aligned with either.

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

K is for Kryptonite

I'll post a picture when I get home, but for now I have work to do.
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A Clean, Well Lighted Place for Me

       Laughter Erupts from the group of teens as a 20 sided die lands on the worst possible side. Out of the other 95%, it landed on a 1. This is my clean, well-lighted place; anywhere that I can be on a Saturday evening, playing Dungeons and Dragons with my friends. The escape from reality sets in quickly as I play, feverishly thinking about Montisqeau Fleetwood the Elf bard would do.
       D&D isn't the only escape from the world that I have, though. I use creation of anything, whether it be the dungeon or epic battle in my head to a more fine art; music. When I need to escape from reality and nobody's there for me, it can be expected that i'll be in my sanctuary, playing or writing music. The feeling of singing in consonance to the chords I play takes me away from the worry and puts me right where I want to be: in with my music. Most of my songs are actually about fictional people, told from the perspective of an alter ego of mine. My core longs for creation, and so I indulge it whenever I can.
       One cannot escape from the nothingness that is life, but one can live with it, or even accept it. When you let the nothingness fill you, you can find a peace, but only if you don't try to push it away. The nothingness neither hurts or helps us, but it only fights us when we try to keep it away. The Buddhists actually believe that nothingness is a good thing-- the state of "no mind" is a peace and quiet in the bustle of our lives as we struggle to fill our voids with superficial somethings.
      "What is an hour?"
      "More to me than him."
      "An hour is the same."
      An hour is a human creation, just another superficial "something" that we put in our lives to fill the void. Like the waiter in Hemmingway's A Clean, Well-Lighted Place, many people struggle to try and squeeze every hour out of every day whilst doing something. More somethings. We can't get rid of them, really, no matter what we do, it's in our nature to try and fill the void. A person weighed down with "somethings" would think that they must be home by a certain time so that they can do what they do every day; nothing, in the scheme of the universe.

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

J is for Jamgo Fett

Alright, I know I haven't been keeping up with this, but I need to catch up, now. Today is pretty much just going to be catching up, so I'm sorry if you're expecting more than just assignments:
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So, I needed to do a couple of poems (in addition to the I is for Internet ones), so I need to post those up here:
The Computer
The Wizard sits upon my desk, stubborn as he is wise.
I never could keep all of his knowledge,
But he willingly shares whatever I ask for.
Wise as he is, though, he only knows what we commonfolk tell him.

The Refrigerator
A silver hulk of frost and cold,
Keeps m y foods so it won't get old.
It welcomes me home with a wide grin
So I can pick my lunch at my whim.

The Hourglass
"Tick Tock," The woman whispers,
gazing at the scene.
"Time's almost up," she reminds gently,
as she drops each pebble quietly.
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Friday, February 4, 2011

I is for Internet

That's right. Today's letter is I, and what would work better than "Internet?" Certainly not "Illumise..." > . >
Anywho, I'm back in school today and I have an assignment to post, so expect that.











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Here's one of the assignments needed to be moved to a computer:

Haiku

It’s overrated.
Love is just another thing
That we have made up.

Song in Couplets

Maybe Love isn’t so bad,
that we have to make Valentine’s Day a drag.
Love is as great as you make it to be,
And sometimes it helps us to see.

Our world is tough enough already,
And why make it worse with everything?
When love is your greatest treasure,
It’s folly to avoid it forever.

Being in love seems to happen so fast,
But the right people make the feelings last.

Sonnet

Love is not a thing to structure into
A poem in its tiny box of rules.
No, love is so unpredictable, to
Force to keep one way would take a fool.
Yet here I am, a fool to say the least,
fitting my love into a tiny box.
Trying to confine the wild, untamed beast
While covering the container in locks.
I guess it’s just natural for humans,
to make what’s natural the opposite.
We take into our hands all that happens,
And do what we may to change all of it.
Love is more than what we make it to be,
But we’re far too blind to be able to see.




Thursday, February 3, 2011

H is for Harry Potter and HK-47


Statement: Today is Speech Conditional Day, where each uttering is identified before being uttered.

Example: If I were to inquire about when school gets out I would say "Query: What time does school get out?"

Addendum: It's a lot of fun, and it happens to coincide with today on this blog, where HK-47 is recognized.

Clarification: HK-47's signature behavior consisted of identifying speech conditionals throughout the whole game.
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Title: Dungeons and Dragons quote for the day!
Statement: Sense I figured that getting SRDs fro random things wouldn't be fun, I decided to find funny things that can be found on the d20srd website, where you can get major props for finding where it's said.
"Some creatures, such as many aberrations and all oozes, have no heads. Others, such as golems and undead creatures other than vampires, are not affected by the loss of their heads. Most other creatures, however, die when their heads are cut off. "-direct quote from the d20srd website-

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

G is for GAMEBOY!

Yeah, that's right. None of that GBA or NDS crap, straight up gameboy. It's all about the LCD, man.:
Now for the nitty gritty stuff:
Here's your Table of Contents for this blog:
[ASN]-- Today's Assignment for English; observations of two disc golf stations.
[NEW]-- What's new in the world of nerdiness
[DND] Random Dungeons and Dragons tidbit of the day
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[ASN]
Station 1:
      The muttering of the crowd in response to their peer's narrow miss rose in volume as the flimsy "E!" Entertainment Frisbee was returned. As time passed with little more luck than glancing the disc off of a tree, the muttering and laughing died down as people lost interest.
     Narrowly missing one of the teens, a backhoe rumbled and clanked angrily up the drab gray path, paying little heed to the class. Alow roar of confusion rose from the kids once more.
     The childish giggle of teenaged girls rose in the midst of the chatter, in response to a quiet, almost inaudible remark in comparison to the rest of the noise.

Station 2:
It's colder here; we're further down the hill. The giggling is continuing, but this time it's over a game of tag separated from the class. The chaos further up the hill made the laughing and disc tossing seem like a pristine silence.
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[NEW]
From Slashdot.com:
--"Dell has released two servers for the U.S. market that have been customized to run Ubuntu-based cloud services. The company has outfitted its PowerEdge C2100 and C6100 servers with Canonical's Ubuntu Enterprise Cloud (UEC), an implementation of the Eucalyptus private cloud software that runs on the Ubuntu Server Edition operating system."

--"The organizers of the Cyber Foundations program have some lofty goals. In addition to identifying a new generation of security experts, they want to make cybergeeks as cool as sports stars, said Alan Paller, director of research at the SANS Institute, a sponsor of the competition. The competition includes tests in computer networking, operating systems and systems administration. Registration is open until Feb. 18. and prizes include four full-ride college scholarships sponsored by the U.S. Navy, gift certificates, and letters of recognition from governors and members of the U.S. Congress."
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[DND]

Planetouched click to see monster

Planetouched is a general word to describe someone who can trace his or her bloodline back to an outsider, usually a fiend or celestial.
The effects of having a supernatural being in one’s heritage last for many generations. Although not as dramatically altered as a half-celestial or a half-fiend, planetouched still retain some special qualities.
The two planetouched varieties described here are the most common. Aasimars are humans with some trace of celestial blood in their veins, and tieflings have some fiendishness in their family tree.

Aasimar


Aasimar, 1st-Level Warrior
Size/Type: Medium Outsider (Native)
Hit Dice: 1d8+1 (5 hp)
Initiative: +4
Speed: 20 ft. in scale mail (4 squares); base speed 30 ft.
Armor Class: 16 (+4 scale mail, +2 heavy shield), touch 10, flat-footed 16
Base Attack/Grapple: +1/+2
Attack: Longsword +2 melee (1d8+1/19-20) or light crossbow +1 ranged (1d8/19-20)
Full Attack: Longsword +2 melee (1d8+1/19-20) or light crossbow +1 ranged (1d8/19-20)
Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: Daylight
Special Qualities: Darkvision 60 ft., resistance to acid 5, cold 5, and electricity 5
Saves: Fort +3, Ref +0, Will +0
Abilities: Str 13, Dex 11, Con 12, Int 10, Wis 11, Cha 10
Skills: Heal +4, Knowledge (religion) +1, Listen +3, Ride +1, Spot +3
Feats: Improved Initiative
Environment: Temperate plains
Organization: Solitary, pair, or team (3-4)
Challenge Rating: ½
Treasure: Standard
Alignment: Usually good (any)
Advancement: By character class
Level Adjustment: +1
Aasimars are usually tall, good-looking, and generally pleasant. Some have a minor physical trait suggesting their heritage, such as silver hair, golden eyes, or an unnaturally intense stare.
Most aasimars are decidedly good-aligned. They fight against evil causes and attempt to sway others to do the right thing. Occasionally they take on the vengeful, judgmental aspect of their celestial ancestor, but this is rare.

Combat

Aasimars usually like a fair, straightforward contest. Against a particularly evil foe, however, they fight with utter conviction and to the death.
Daylight (Sp)
An aasimar can use daylight once per day as a 1st-level caster or a caster of his class levels, whichever is higher.
Skills
An aasimar has a +2 racial bonus on Spot and Listen checks.
The aasimar warrior presented here had the following ability scores before racial adjustments: Str 13, Dex 11, Con 12, Int 10, Wis 9, Cha 8.

Aasimar As Characters

Aasimar characters possess the following racial traits.
  • +2 Wisdom, +2 Charisma.
  • Medium size.
  • An aasimar’s base land speed is 30 feet.
  • Darkvision: Aasimars can see in the dark up to 60 feet.
  • Racial Skills: Aasimars have a +2 racial bonus on Spot and Listen checks.
  • Racial Feats: An aasimar gains feats according to its class levels.
  • Special Attacks (see above): Daylight.
  • Special Qualities (see above): Resistance to acid 5, cold 5, and electricity 5.
  • Automatic Languages: Common, Celestial. Bonus Languages: Draconic, Dwarven, Elven, Gnome, Halfling, Sylvan.
  • Favored Class: Paladin.
  • Level adjustment +1.

Tiefling


Tiefling, 1st-Level Warrior
Size/Type: Medium Outsider (Native)
Hit Dice: 1d8+1 (5 hp)
Initiative: +1
Speed: 30 ft. (6 squares)
Armor Class: 15 (+1 Dex, +3 studded leather, +1 light shield), touch 11, flat-footed 14
Base Attack/Grapple: +1/+2
Attack: Rapier +3 melee (1d6+1/18-20) or light crossbow +2 ranged (1d8/19-20)
Full Attack: Rapier +3 melee (1d6+1/18-20) or light crossbow +2 ranged (1d8/19-20)
Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: Darkness
Special Qualities: Darkvision 60 ft., resistance to cold 5, electricity 5, and fire 5
Saves: Fort +3, Ref +1, Will -1
Abilities: Str 13, Dex 13, Con 12, Int 12, Wis 9, Cha 6
Skills: Bluff +4, Hide +5, Move Silently +1, Sleight of Hand +1
Feats: Weapon Focus (rapier)
Environment: Temperate plains
Organization: Solitary, pair, or gang (3-4)
Challenge Rating: ½
Treasure: Standard
Alignment: Usually evil (any)
Advancement: By character class
Level Adjustment: +1
Many tieflings are indistinguishable from humans. Others have small horns, pointed teeth, red eyes, a whiff of brimstone about them, or even cloven feet. No two tieflings are the same.

Combat

Tieflings are sneaky, subtle, and generally conniving. They prefer to strike from ambush and usually avoid a fair fight if they can.
Darkness (Sp)
A tiefling can use darkness once per day (caster level equal to class levels).
Skills
A tiefling has a +2 racial bonus on Bluff and Hide checks.
The tiefling warrior presented here had the following ability scores before racial adjustments: Str 13, Dex 11, Con 12, Int 10, Wis 9, Cha 8.

Tieflings As Characters

Tiefling characters possess the following racial traits.
  • +2 Dexterity, +2 Intelligence, -2 Charisma.
  • Medium size.
  • A tiefling’s base land speed is 30 feet.
  • Darkvision out to 60 feet.
  • Racial Skills: Tieflings have a +2 racial bonus on Bluff and Hide checks.
  • Racial Feats: A tiefling gains feats according to its class levels.
  • Special Attacks (see above): Darkness.
  • Special Qualities (see above): Resistance to cold 5, electricity 5, and fire 5.
  • Automatic Languages: Common, Infernal. Bonus Languages: Draconic, Dwarven, Elven, Gnome, Goblin, Halfling, Orc.
  • Favored Class: Rogue.
  • Level adjustment +1.

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

F is for Flickr

That's right. F is for "Flickr." I've 'stolen' many a picture from Flickr, so here is me atoning for my crimes by recognizing the source.
Anywho, here's today's assignment, 4 Haikus about the seasons:
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Winter:
Snow's falling outside.
I have never lived like this.
I wish I were home.

Spring:
Do you remember?
This is the day we had met.
I didn't forget.

Summer:
The Sun is blazing,
and we chase the sun down the trails
laughing as we go.

Fall:
The Trees are hiding,
but not where we think they are.
Our feet hide them here.

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So today I continued to work on my D&D Campaign, and resumed my Star Wars argument with Brian. I need to finish writing the music for "Duel of the Fates" for small ensemble, but it will happen. =D
Also: if you have an idea for something nerdy to add to this blog, just lemme know in the comments section. I enjoy a variety of nerdy stuff, and I can't possibly think of everything.
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RANDOM D&D TIDBIT OF THE DAY:
Sorry about slacking a bit here, guys, I love this blog but I can't keep up, even this early off. I'll try and have more lessons, but for now, I'm just going to put up an article from the srd for everyone to see:
 WRAITHS

Wraiths are incorporeal creatures born of evil and darkness. In some cases, the grim silhouette of a wraith might appear armored or outfitted with weapons. This appearance does not affect the creature’s AC or combat abilities but only reflects the shape it had in life.
A wraith is about as tall as a human, while a dread wraith is roughly the size of an ogre. Since both are incorporeal, they are weightless.
Wraiths speak Common and Infernal.

Combat

Both the wraith and the dread wraith share the following abilities.
Unnatural Aura (Su)
Animals, whether wild or domesticated, can sense the unnatural presence of a wraith at a distance of 30 feet. They will not willingly approach nearer than that and panic if forced to do so; they remain panicked as long as they are within that range.
Daylight Powerlessness (Ex)
Wraiths are utterly powerless in natural sunlight (not merely a daylight spell) and flee from it.

Wraith

Constitution Drain (Su)
Living creatures hit by a wraith’s incorporeal touch attack must succeed on a DC 14 Fortitude save or take 1d6 points of Constitution drain. The save DC is Charisma-based. On each such successful attack, the wraith gains 5 temporary hit points.
Create Spawn (Su)
Any humanoid slain by a wraith becomes a wraith in 1d4 rounds. Its body remains intact and inanimate, but its spirit is torn free from its corpse and transformed. Spawn are under the command of the wraith that created them and remain enslaved until its death. They do not possess any of the abilities they had in life.

Dread Wraith

The oldest and most malevolent wraiths lurk in the depths of forgotten temples and other forsaken places. They can sense the approach of living creatures, and hunger for them. Despite its size, the dread wraith possesses unearthly quickness, and makes use of its Spring Attack feat and natural reach to strike with deadly effect and melt back into the shadows—or the walls.
Lifesense (Su)
A dread wraith notices and locates living creatures within 60 feet, just as if it possessed the blindsight ability. It also senses the strength of their life force automatically, as if it had cast deathwatch.
Constitution Drain (Su)
Living creatures hit by a dread wraith’s incorporeal touch attack must succeed on a DC 25 Fortitude save or take 1d8 points of Constitution drain. The save DC is Charisma-based. On each such successful attack, the dread wraith gains 5 temporary hit points.
Create Spawn (Su)
Any humanoid slain by a dread wraith becomes a wraith in 1d4 rounds. Its body remains intact and inanimate, but its spirit is torn free from its corpse and transformed. Spawn are under the command of the wraith that created them and remain enslaved until its death. They do not possess any of the abilities they had in life.
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In addition to my regular blogging, here's a picture to send you on your way with: