Zombies on the Rise
This link promotes the Zombie Survival Guide book. Do check out the links, which have zombie infection simulations for cities... like this one here.

I recommend the nuclear death variant, which allows you to nuke city blocks to kill off infected areas. It's tough... the damn things replicate so fast! But a good strategy is to contain the buggers by bombing the area around the zombies, then killing them off inside.

I rather like the zombie movies as an inspiration to an RPG session. Zombies normally provide nice dangers for combat-hungry players... the breakdown of basic societal and organizational norms normally becomes a great opportunity for role-playing horror... and trying to figure out how to stop the zombie onslaught and what caused 'em normally challenges the puzzle solvers of the group.
GHOST STORIES
I'm really enjoying Adrian's foray into RPG "short stories" for his RPG Anthology titled "Manila Unseen". It's to be the first part of several "anthologies", the others to be titled "Manila Unmasked", and "Manila Unleashed".

So far, one set of characters has uncovered a supernatural conspiracy and shadow war in the Philippines... all from a seemingly straightforward journalism assignment on the "White Lady of Balete Drive". Nice working in of the Pasig River, Old Manila families and sensibilities, and the taxi driver and real estate assessment threads.

Another set of characters has resolved the case of a mysterious hitchhiker and an aging mansion in Batangas. Samurai swords, headless women in white, blackouts, and a tale of friendship, betrayal, and revenge.

HINIRANG the RPG
The magic component is slowly filling up. I'm a bit worried about the spell lists and skill lists, but I'll have to pick Dean's brains for these. So far I'm looking at the following magic systems to flesh out:
Katao Tribal Magic Types:
- Manculam (Shaman & Insects)
- Albolaryo (Sympathetic Magic)
- Salamangka (Elementalists).
Ispancialo Arcanists:
- 80% Hermetic Tradition (Magic has a long prep time)
- 20% Local translations of Katao spirit magic.
Ispancialo Gremio Poeticans
- Words and shaping reality and perception.

Nothing yet about creating artifacts in the Katao group, though the Albolaryos come close I suppose. Whew, a lot of work!
MY DESTINIES
Guess what? I save everyone...

What is Your Destiny? by Valcion
Name
Color
Birthday
DestinySavior of the human race
Date when you fufill your destinyFebruary 3, 2015
Created with quill18's MemeGen!


And of course... am corrupted by incredible power...

What is Your Destiny? by Valcion
Name
Color
Birthday
DestinyEnslaver of all humanity
Date when you fufill your destinyAugust 12, 2021
Created with quill18's MemeGen!


But manage to overcome it in the end!

What is Your Destiny? by Valcion
Name
Color
Birthday
DestinyDefeat of your archnemesis
Date when you fufill your destinyDecember 18, 2022
Created with quill18's MemeGen!
Government, Corruption, and Me
Well, I've decided to do a bit of study on corruption, Philippines-style. I purchased a book that collects a number of articles from the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism.

In the process, I hopped online to find other articles and found the links to another related organization called TAG. What is that? Well, TAG is the Transparent Accountable Governance project, and it's "attempt to summarize how, why and to what degree corruption exists in Philippine society." The work has also been "extended to promoting good governance in selected cities and municipalities of Mindanao through capacity-building efforts."

Ambitious, but worthwhile.

And how can we help, readers? How can we help?

After thinking about it, I keep wondering if an online site can do anything... given the grip of popular media on shaping the values of the masa, and the deeply entrenched corruption in government. Perhaps this is where another form of popular media should come in: COMICS!

Well, if it was more popular, more folks would be in the industry here... but still, it DOES reach the youth...
Cranium Kings
Well, last Halloween saw a very late Cranium Championship. The teams were:
1) Red: Dean, Marco and myself
2) Green: DinoYu, Carl, Vin
3) Blue: Nikki, Jason and Charles

After two games, the first team were the undisputed champions.

Still, there were impressive performances all around... Carl had the impressive "Spank" clay figure, DinoYu pulled out an impressive "Two-Fu" triumph, and Jason hummed a mean tune! Charles, alas, caught some flack for not knowing certain songs... but then, it merely served to underline how old the rest of us are in comparison. He was only around 2 when "Born in the U.S.A." was out after all.

I would be remiss if I didn't mention Marco's exceptional dice-rolling skills! My God, in the second game, the Blue Team only missed one question and yet rolled terribly! Marco kept flying past the opposition in a single die roll.

I was too late to reach the Via Astris halloween party, but it's just as well I suppose. I was not awake enough to drive all that way and back.