A Package from DwD Studios

28 April 2015 | Hisham | | Books, Role Playing Games
 

Copies of roleplaying game books arrived today from DwD Studios, sent by Bill Logan! 

A bunch of awesome digest-sized books!

As has been documented on the blog before, I've played BareBones Fantasy with Irfan the first time here, then during International TableTop Day here and finally here when he experienced his first player character (PC) death. The boy also gamemastered (GM) his first ever RPG with BareBones Fantasy last year!

I'm hoping he'll hone his GMing skills some more with the easy to play BareBones d00% lite system, and eventually play some contemporary spies in Covert Ops.This will help him develop his oratory, problem solving and critical thinking skills.

This autograph will be worth mllions! MILLIONS!

Thanks, Bill! I will do just that!

 

Patreon: Lovecraftian Investigators

27 April 2015 | Hisham | | Artwork, Patreon Paperminis
 
Prepare for some SAN loss

Latest Patreon papermini release from Hishgraphics Papermini Patreon! Lovecraftian / pulp investigators from the 1920s! All prepared to lose their marbles upon investigating and being exposed to unspeakable horrors!

With: the dilettante, the detective, the doctor, the police officer, the reporter and the nurse! As usual, the Pioneer-class release is free for download while the higher quality releases are for Mariner- and the Voyager-class patrons only! Fhtagn!

Click here to download the pioneer-class pdf from Patreon!

Dude has a human brain in a case on him

Also, as a free bonus download, some Lovecraftian papermini monsters for your player characters to tangle with - or to be player characters, I don't judge.

Click here to download some Ghouls and Mi-go the Fungi from Yuggoth on Patreon.

 

Atok and Opah's April Visit

26 April 2015 | Hisham | | Family Pics
 

Atok and Opah visited us in Perlis once more, this time to help ensure all went well during the my last ever semester final examinations. If I make it through this, then I would have a Bachelor of English Studies degree. And in a position to do something with it.

We planned for a picnic at Gua Kelam, but rainfall overnight caused a change in plans so we went to Tasik Melati which appeared to be overrun by ants and water lettuce, although the lily pads were pretty neat.

However, after breakfast at Tasik Melati we found ourselves at Gua Kelam anyway because we travelled quite a bit past Sungai Batu Pahat northbound toward Kaki Bukit.

We enjoyed the greenery at the Gua Kelam Secret Garden on the other side of the cave tunnel where we finished off the leftover of our Tasik Melati breakfast.

There was one way to prove that we were at the Secret Garden, which was to take a photo of the indisputably noticeable large words that labelled the locale as a SECRET GARDEN. Needless to say its secret was safe with us.

The next morning we visited the Pauh Pasar Pagi which was a unique combination of a farmer's market which also includes flowers and other landscaping material, and a flea market which even sells melee weapons including a not-very-hefty-looking wooden mace. With spikes and all.  

Atok and Opah were very engrossed with the decorative plants, which were sold right by the roadside.

Irfan smiles with glee at another flower stall which was located between a graveyard and a rubber plantation.

Opah bought for Irfan another flowering potted plant to look after. According to the seller it's a "Japanese Rose" however a cursory Googling confirms that it is not.

After exams were over, it was time for Atok and Opah to leave for Sitiawan, with a plan to meet soon during the Labour Day/Wesak Day long weekend.

 

Finn the Human Stormtrooper

23 April 2015 | Hisham | | Artwork, Star Wars
 

The latest Star Wars: The Force Awakens teaser dropped last week at Star Wars Celebration Anaheim 2015. The internet exploded.

Meanwhile, I drew John Boyega as Finn, from the trailer.

And Kylo Ren as Kybo Ren as the Ice King

Updated with BB-8 as B-MO!

 

81 Months

22 April 2015 | sila | | Family Pics
 

81 months of Yaya!

Artsy selfie

* Mouse over the pictures for captions

 

EOTE Tabletop Day Episode: Together Again For The First Time

11 April 2015 | Hisham | | Edged By The Empire, RPG Actual Play, RPG Irfan Plays, Role Playing Games, Star Wars
 

Edged by the Empire

Episode 10 Together Again For The First Time

Previously on Edged by the Empire...

It was International Tabletop Day again, and like last year we played Star Wars Edge of the Empire again. However we played not on a table, but on the floor.With the 15 XP carried over from the previous session, Irfan bought the Grit talent for his smuggler character Hondo Pash, increasing his Strain. The finale for the campaign that started on January 2013 with Escape from Mos Shuuta begins...

Completely edged by the Galactic Empire.

One Man Revolution

Radiation and stellar gases swamped the Shadda-Bi-Boran system from its primary star. A squadron of five Star Destroyers aided by numerous smaller corvettes and tenders manoeuvred themselves to surround a three-klick wide asteroid that sheltered a secret Imperial base that belonged to Admiral Keargan Kanu.

As the cordon closed in on the flat lump of rock, Admiral Kanu was surrounded by his newly-reunited family, from his estranged wife Doro Pash, their 21-year-old son the young smuggler pilot Hondo Pash and their 9-year-old daughter Yuzy Pash. The two astromech droids R2-8D8 and R5-K2 slid down the ramp of the YT-1300 light freighter Lava Jaeger, screaming their warning of the incoming Imperial fleet.

They kinda look flat

The paper miniatures ready for action at Shadda-Bi-Boran

Writhing in pain at their feet was Hondo's armoured and heavily robed shipmate and gunslinger Giin Lawquane. It was Giin who had called the Imperial fleet into the system to ambush them. Suddenly, Giin stopped screaming and fell unconscious. Kanu dismissed his troops who saluted the Admiral and hurried to the elevator of the main hangar bay. Two remained: a pair of black-armored storm commandos who immediately flanked the Admiral as guards, whom were introduced as Lieutenants Kildruun and Gundeep.

The Imperial fleet was preventing them from leaving and returning to Admiral Kanu's safeworld, where he kept the family of his staff and troops safe and before they planned to vanish into the Outer Rim away from the Empire's grasp.

Meanwhile, the large tactical hologram above them showed that shuttles and small transports were launching out from smaller bays on the asteroid base. Turbolaser cannons from the Star Destroyers fired on the small, fleeing fleet. A shuttle and a freighter were shredded into superheated debris before the surviving ships jumped to hyperspace.

No! I am your father!

Admiral Keargan Kanu turned to Hondo...

...and gave him one of the metal alloy cylinders from his jacket pocket. He said, "Take this rank cylinder. You would be able to access any computer and open any doors in this base with it."

 

Laundry Photo Goes Viral For Some Reason

03 April 2015 | Hisham | | Books, Role Playing Games
 

When I was reading the Laundry RPG rulebook away from home in Lunas, I thought I'd take a photo of the "What is a Roleplaying Game" section of the book and post it on Google Plus and Twitter. Here's the link on G+. Over 130 reshares!

And on Twitter the picture achieved close to a phenomenal 1,100 retweets!

What Rep is this on Eclipse Phase? f-Rep?

Here's the screencap I took when it hit a thousand retweets. Even Cubicle 7, the publisher of the Laundry RPG, mentioned it on their official website!

I bought this book used from Ivan

As usual I'm blaming the viral outbreak on the many-angled ones living at the bottom of the Mandelbrot Set.

 

Wedding at Lunas

01 April 2015 | Hisham | | Family Pics
 

One day we had to leave Betty kitty at home for the weekend.

What IS up with the many-angled ones?

We travelled south to Lunas, Kedah about three hours south where Ain's cousin Zariff was getting married.

Lunas is near Kulim which is a spitting distance from Pulau Pinang

Ain had found a homestay online and booked by phone. It was quite a comfortable pace to stay, we discovered upon checking in.

This is the same place we rendezvoused with them a couple of years ago

Then we rendezvoused with Tok Bah and Tok Ma in Kulim who had driven in from Pasir Mas, and had some nasi ayam for lunch. We also took a drive to Butterworth to buy some pickles at the pickle store.

 

Rafe - 39 Months

29 March 2015 | sila | | Family Pics
 

And now Adik is 39 months old!

Happy little boy, up close

* Mouse over the pictures for captions

 

80 Months

27 March 2015 | sila | | Family Pics
 

80 months of Yaya!

I was framed, I say!

* Mouse over the pictures for captions

 

Brief Lives

26 March 2015 | Hisham | | Friends
 

When Irfan signed up for school here in a new state, I had no idea how he would adapt. Would there be older, wiser example students there? Will there be anyone in school that would inspire him? Back in Pandan Indah, the answer would be a solid no.

Less than a week into the school year, Irfan had already found a close friend. Soon after we were all acquainted with his friend's family. They live closer to school, in a housing area that we thought we would move in.

His friend had an elder brother - a humble, smart, intelligent and witty teenager who received good grades at school with ample knowledge about computers and guitar-playing. He and Irfan's classmate came over to the house and helped me try installing Linux Mint onto the new laptop.

Needless to say, I was very impressed with this boy.

 

A Skywhale

25 March 2015 | Hisham | | Artwork
 

It's been a while since I drew anything.

So here's a skywhale.

A skywhale, here it is.
 

Finally TIme for a Breather and a Kitty

23 March 2015 | Hisham | | Recent News
 

I have not been posting much because life in the last month or so has been very hectic.

Betty loves Google+
 

First, I was commissioned to proofread a doctorate student's thesis from a neighbouring university. The work has - to put it simply - given me the desire to take a Master's Degree once I'm done with this Bachelor's Degree in English Studies, and perhaps if the opportunity opens up even a Doctor of Philosophy Degree eventually. What in? I have no idea just yet, but I am looking into Applied Linguistics.

Perhaps I could integrate tabletop gaming into it somehow.

 

Friends To The End

16 March 2015 | Hisham | | Fiction
 

Note: Been busy all week writing assignment for Professional Writing 2: Writing Across Fields. Pro Writing 1 entry can be found here. Apart from writing things like press release and such, the last part of the assignment is a freeform 1000-word write-whatever-the-hell-you-want deal. So I did a short story. Not really happy with it because to keep it to around 1000 words, I had to edit out a lot of elements that flesh out these characters' online relationship with each other.

Friends to the End

Drained and bone-weary, Abu fell onto a large, dusty rock in the middle of the near-empty city. Several heartbeats later Chong came upon him. It took Chong only two seconds to identify him.

“Abu?” he said. Panicked, Abu sat up quickly, his arm reaching for his backpack. Chong interjected quickly with his arms in front of him and palms outwards, “Hey! It's me. It's Chong!”

“Chong?” Abu muttered incredulously. He squinted at the newcomer and was transfixed for some time. Neither moved for the duration.  “You're the last person I thought I would meet out here.”

“My goodness,” said Chong, unable to hide a big grin but still holding up his hands. “All those years on the chatting on the internet, and never meeting until now. Until today.”

Abu gestured for his friend to sit. Both men let the tension ebb out of their bodies. They sat in silence for a moment. Then Abu said, “I'd offer you some pajeri nenas or some kopi tarik, but I'm all out.”

Chong guffawed loudly, startling Abu who said sarcastically, “I can't believe that for a small guy, you sure have big lungs.”

“I can't believe you remembered my favourite food,” sniggered Chong. He reached for his backpack. Abu tensed for a second. He withdrew some packets. He tossed one at Abu. “It's no pajeri nenas, but it's serviceable.”

Abu tore into MRE pack filled with a preserved ginger chicken meal. After finishing, Chong offered him his canteen to drink. When Abu was done, Chong asked him, “How do you feel?”

 

Rafe - 38 Months

28 February 2015 | sila | | Family Pics
 

Here are Adik's 38-month photos.

My happy little boy

Mouse over the picture for captions.

 

New Gear From Atok and Opah

23 February 2015 | Hisham | | Recent News
 

Although having accepted a new job, there are many problems that we have yet to overcome.

One of the biggest perils to my final semester in my attempt to finally earn a Bachelor's degree (even though I'm married) was that the old laptop, who was my companion through adventure and hardship, is gone forever. (Or not; you can never tell with these techno-organic life forms.) Its hard disk drive gave up the ghost a month before we moved up here.

I have a whole semester of assignment writing to complete and no new-fangled electronic typewriter thing to do them with. Not to mention, no money to buy a new one.

Then one day, Atok and Opah Irfan sent me a package at my office (because being out in the sticks, we were not certain if the post office would deliver to the right house) and in the box was a new laptop!

Cloud City

Neodymium is the external hard disk drive. So are Promethium and old Ytterbium connected to the television.

I have installed Linux Mint 17 on it and are now customising it to my old freelancing specification with the installation of Krita, Inkscape and extra stuff added to GIMP. The reason Mint was installed instead of Ubuntu is that the Wacom Bamboo works perfectly with it without the need to install anything new.

Also, all my learning notes for this semester have been transferred to the new laptop and assignment writing activities have begun.

Thanks, Atok and Opah Irfan for the new gear.

 

An Unexpected Guest: The Wet Sprocket

22 February 2015 | Hisham | | Family Pics
 

Upon returning home from Pasir Mas to pay our last respects to Irfan's Nyang, we discovered that the house had an unexpected guest.

It was a big katak puru that took refuge among the old laundry causing Ain to scream out loud when it jumped after being startled. Ain and the local fauna appear to love to startle each other at the same time. It attempted to flee deeper into where the glassware was stored, but Irfan and I boxed it in, literally.

This is not an unboxing video

Soon, the toad was released out to the recently-harvested bendang.

Bufo this, dude!

Where I assume he lived happily ever after.

Thanks for minding the house while we were away.
 

79 Months

22 February 2015 | sila | | Family Pics
 

79 months of Yaya!

Peekaboo!

* Mouse over the pictures for captions

 

Ya Seen For Nyang

20 February 2015 | sila | | Family Pics
 

Last Monday, Irfan's only living great grandmother passed away. She was 91 and only after her death did we learn that both Irfan and his Nyang shared a birthday.

We departed for Pasir Mas to pay our last respects to Nyang. Because of financial reasons we had never balik kampung to Pasir Mas in the entire year of 2014.

Joy overcame sombreness

For a moment we had to cancel the trip which saddened Irfan a great deal as he was looking forward to meet his cousin Aiman who he had not seen since we left Kuala Lumpur. Then a cheque cleared at the bank.

Pasir Mas cemetary
 

Irfan read Ya Seen at Nyang's graveyard with Aiman at his side.

Aiman listens to Irfan's reading
 

Tok Bah and Tok Ma also read Ya Seen for Nyang's departed husband who Irfan never met.

Ki's grave
 

Earlier, Irfan and Aiman also taught (or attempted to, as time was short) their second cousins to play Uno.

At least he didn't try to teach them to play Legendary
 

Needless to say, Irfan spent as much as he could playing with Aiman and his sister Zara before they left for Kuala Lumpur.

 

Birthday Burgers

08 February 2015 | Hisham | | Family Pics, Food
 

Ain and I couldn't celebrate our recent birthdays during our birthdays for one reason or another. Then we both received some extra coin for doing some freelance work. So we all went for some cheeseburgers at Burger Republik, which I hope would not be appropriated into Burger Imperial at some point by Palpatine.

Now both of us are in our 40s

It's not too far from the house, just over a klick away en route from town. I have made an observation before that this town might have a higher density of burger joints in a single area than Kuala Lumpur.

Those ladies in the back also desired chicken chops but for naught

They also have chicken chop, which looked tantalising on the menu but they were not serving any today as the chef was called away for wedding food and beverages duty.

Happy burgerday to us!

Ain's was a double beef patty and you could still order a triple. Mine was a mutton patty. Ain or course, would not touch mine.

True enough, he finished it all up

Irfan's towering double burger had extra cheese as all of Irfan's burgers are wont to have.