Tag Board Contest: Pinoy Phonetic Alphabet
Okay, this morning I thought about the fact that I haven't really come up with anything wild or wacky recently. Maybe I was just hungry. Anyway, here's my first attempt.

On the tagboard, suggest some names of local artistas and tie them to a letter. Then, when we need to spell something like ACE, we can say "Ara, Cacai, Edu"!
So here are mine so far:

A - Ara
B - Bong
C - Cacai
D - Dingdong
E - Edu

Now you try!
Runecaster
Your Name: Alexander Vladimir Marcos Osias
Your Date of Birth: 08/09/1971

Past

Fehu - Increase of wealth and possessions, protection of valuables. Used to send energy on its way, fire in its uncontrolled, primal state.

Present

Othel - Material possessions and protection of those possessions, inheritance (can be genetic traits inherited from elders).

Future

Ing - Fertility, successful conclusion to issue or situation, ending one cycle and beginning another.

Cast the runes here:
Rune Caster

GNS and Gamemastering
The concept of GNS (Gamist / Narrativist / Simulationist) as a tool for guiding game design is well-documented on the internet on such places like The Forge in discussions and articles. Gamist play normally involves a clearly defined set of "victory" conditions, and rewards and consequences for actions. Narrativist play normally focuses on the story above all else (as determined by all the players). Simulationist play deals with exploring the plausibility / realism of the world or setting of the game.

Just yesterday, I was struck by the fact that the initial GNS balance as set down by the rules set actually changes when in the hands of a Gamemaster (GM). A GM's natural biases will twist the game along the three axes of the GNS paradigm to fit his or her taste. GMs with a strong narrative bias will pull the game towards that axis... same with the other axes. The system and the setting will still define the initial starting point... and in some ways reinforce that style of play. But the GM (and the players) will eventually make the game their own.
Kult Musings
Elisabeth / Elizabeth Seymour. She wasn't bitten by the Sepiroth. She claims not to be reminded of her past, especially the deaths of her parents... and yet she still lives and works in the same building and in the same line of work as her parents. Her most recent play appears to have been strongly related to the tragedy that took place in her life.

An FBI Agent strongly suggests that she may have been responsible (at the tender age of 13) for killing her father... and that her father may have been the leader of Jackals (a term used to refer to serial killers) based in the NY and Manhattan area... and that during the time he ran Theater Mondo, the rise in serial killings increased... just as they have in recent years when Elizabeth took over the operation.

Her father, Richard Seymour... Her mother, Mary... they were the faces of the actors we saw in the play "Agamemnon" in that horribly realistic murder scene.

And now, the Danny Weston has been warned away from "Richard Seymour" by the ritual murder of a family of four (his neighbors)... after he'd been dating the lovely Ms. Seymour for a month.

My character's theory will be (once I get to "share info" with the other characters) that she is either channelling her father, or that his spirit is somehow tied to her and influencing both her and the Jackals. But if either's true... what the heck do we do now?
Writing as an art and a craft

It's often referred to as an art. I like to refer to it as both an art and a craft. While that art part may be drawn from pain or memories or some other well of artistic inspiration... another part is patience, a critical eye, a willingness to accept insights on how one might improve, and practice.

Now that demands on my time are starting to recede (may it stay that way for now), I can finally go back to developing habits to ensure that I continue to improve my writing as an art and a craft like:

1) Making time to write - short stories, scripts for 8-page comic books, and RPG material... passing them out for constructive criticism. Lots of drills and exercises too. Emphasis on completion here, rather than on "stuff that I'm working on".
2) Reading the good and the bad - gen-u-wyne good writing and the occasional shit-lit book. The former to illustrate the summit of achievement, the latter to suggest the pit of published mediocrity.
3) Talking the talk - finding friends and communities that approach writing in a similar manner.

While I've been told I'm a "good" writer by teachers and other folk, the fact is I've always being the talented individual whose works don't compare with those who've poured honest sweat and focused inspiration into their writings. The past work I've churned out are like uncut diamonds at best, lacking the skill to bring writings to full luster.

Criticizing RPGs
I've always looked at RPG rulebooks and sourcebooks and noted that they were "good" or "bad", but only recently began defining what made them good or bad. The aspects of an RPG book I look at are:

1) Basics: grammar and spelling, writing and editing
2) Rules: mechanics, explanation, and examples, tables and charts
3) Setting: imagination, usefulness in gaming sessions, potential for storylines and adventures
4) Flavor: stories that illustrate the setting and gameplay, art that fleshes out the imagery of the setting
5) Publishing: quality of printing and material, durability

Now that Hinirang the RPG has time again, I hope that my work on it will do well along these lines...