seankreynolds
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Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in the "seankreynolds" journal:[<< Previous 20 entries]
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05:55 pm
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New Pathfinder Society scenario open call
Check out the new Pathfinder Society Open Call! This is a FULLY OPEN call, and you can submit whatever scenario ideas you want! If you want to get your foot in the door writing professionally for Paizo, this is the place to start. http://bit.ly/4pvXs
Tags: paizo, pathfinder, writing
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10:17 am
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cool street art powered by grate air
Tags: art, video
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03:12 pm
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Honest Creationist = not a scientist
Picked up from ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) wickedthought's LJ.
Q: What if experimentation and observation yielded evidence that appeared to contradict the statements in the scriptures?
A: Well, that can always happen, but since our mind isn't perfect and our observations aren't always perfect, if we find some experiment that, on the surface, seems to disagree with the word of god, we go with the word of god.
SKR: Then you're NOT A SCIENTIST.
Tags: religion, science
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11:24 am
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Erik Mona's ebay auctions
Some cool stuff, check 'em out!
link
Tags: ebay
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11:37 am
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A pop-up built from LEGO
Saw it on succedblog.com, it's amazing!
Tags: lego
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11:22 am
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XKCD Movie Narrative Chart
XKCD Movie Narrative Chart
Trust me, just click it. And click it on the site for a larger version.
Thanks to scarlettina for blogging about this!
Tags: comics, lord of the rings, movies, star wars
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09:50 pm
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Bats are scary, Batman and Robin was awful
Just in case you had forgotten how bad this movie was, here's a long edited clip of crap, crap, crap from the movie Batman and Robin:
Tags: comics, movies
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11:26 pm
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The mimic book is on sale!
Darkness Without Form: Secrets of the Mimic, written by Clinton Boomer and Matt Banach, and developed by me for Sean K Reynolds Games, is now on sale! All the info is at the link. :) Special promotional $2 price!
Tags: mimic, monsters, pathfinder, rpg, skrg
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01:14 pm
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Alien Supreme Commanders miniatures
These are neat, and I'm sure you could use them for mutants, chaos cultists, or whatever. :)
Tags: miniatures
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11:00 am
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Selinker on Cosby
Check out Mike selinker's post today: The Most Beautiful Stand-Up Routine. Classic Cosby.
Tags: humor
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10:40 am
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make your own almond milk
Instructables link
I'll have to try this. When I get a blender.
Tags: food, instructable
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10:49 am
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One thing I like about D&D 4e
The term "shift." It's much shorter than "five foot step," and I now typically use the term when I'm GMing, as in "do you want to shift before you end your turn?"
Likewise, I still call for Spot checks when playing Pathfinder instead of Perception checks.
Tags: 3e, 4e, gaming, pathfinder
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01:15 pm
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5 reasons Star Wars sequels would be worse than the prequels
This ones for my bro, jediwiker.
Cracked.com link
Tags: humor, star wars
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04:20 pm
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Pet peeve: A fraction of its original size
Using "a fraction" to mean "a small amount" is a pet peeve of mine. I have a math background, therefore to me a fraction is "any numerical quantity that is not a whole number."
Thus, in a forest of 10,000 trees, if you cut down one tree, the remaining forest is a fraction of its original size (9999/10000 is a fraction).
I know that "fraction" in general use actually means "a small amount." Like I said, it's just a pet peeve of mine. :p
Tags: writing
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10:35 am
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Triplet police officers
National Geographic link
Is it just me, or are these guys just a ton of hilarious pranks waiting to happen?
Tags: national geographic, photograph, police
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02:36 pm
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Writing tip: watch out for passive voice
EDIT #1: I didn't intend this to turn into a discussion of the merits of active vs. passive voice, or whether it's a conspiracy of Latin-trained English speakers being fussy, or whether specific examples are more in the middle rather than being clearly active or passive. This is me, a guy who has to read manuscripts from dozens of different writers, and who hears from the editors that some people use too much passive voice, trying to get people to use active voice more.
EDIT #2: In other words, if you're thinking about writing for Paizo, try to use active voice, clearly active voice. If you're not, write however you want.
EDIT #3: I've clonked all the comments and locked this entry because I didn't want discussion to go on and on about the topics in edit #1. Thanks!
When writing most game text--at least for action-oriented games like Pathfinder and D&D--you really should use active voice, even for descriptive stuff. Passive voice is appropriate sometimes, but unless you're an expert writer, you're probably overusing passive voice.
When the subject is the agent or actor of the verb, the verb is in active voice. (Wikipedia)
Examples:
Sean wrote that book.
Malachi played with a toy.
Thor hurls his mighty hammer, Mjolnir.
The gargoyle attacks the PCs.
When the subject is the patient, target or undergoer of the action, it is said to be in the passive voice. (Wikipedia)
Examples:
That book was written by Sean.
The toy was played with by Malachi.
Mjolnir, the might hammer, is hurled by Thor.
The PCs are attacked by the gargoyle.
To put it another way:
If the subject is doing the verbing, it's probably active voice.
If the object is doing the verbing, it's probably passive voice.
Boy hits ball: active voice.
Ball was hit by boy: passive voice.
The ball was hit. Passive voice, and you don't know who hit it.
Passive voice often relies on some form of the verb to be: be, am, is, are, was, were, been. Sometimes, particularly when describing a past, present, or future state of being, you can't avoid passive voice ("Sean is tall and bald, and was planning to be a chemistry teacher someday.").
But if you're talking about action, use active voice. It's almost always stronger
Passive voice isn't always bad! It can be great for descriptions and setting a certain evocative tone. Many famous quotes are in passive voice, including
"Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain." (KJV Bible)
"I am fortune's fool!" (Shakespeare)
"These are the times that try men's souls." (Thomas Paine)
"I'll be back." (Schwarzenegger)
"So say we all!" (Edward James Olmos)
But there are also kick-ass quotes in active voice:
"Jesus wept." (KJV Bible)
"My only love sprung from my only hate!" (Shakespeare)
"Four score and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation...." (Lincoln)
"Come with me if you want to live." (Schwarzenegger)
"Fleeing the Cylon tyranny, the last battlestar, Galactica, leads a ragtag fugitive fleet on a lonely quest." (Lorne Greene)
Read it. Remember it. Live it.
Tags: editing, grammar, paizo
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02:24 pm
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new open call for Paizo's Pathfinder Society adventure scenarios
Wanna get your foot in the door as a published adventure writer? Check this out, Paizo's having an open call for outline proposals for its Pathfinder Society (organized/tournament play) adventures. Think you can pitch a cool one-session adventure scenario in 750 words? Then start workin', deadlines for submissions is October 30th!
And when writing your proposal, keep in mind things I've ranted about before. I'm not the one reviewing the submissions, but my nitpicks are common: Sean's blog posts tagged "grammar"
Tags: adventure, gaming, paizo, pathfinder, writing
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03:20 pm
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Rachel Maddow, Obama and the Nobel Peace Prize
Thanks to wickedthought for the link.
Tags: obama, politics
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12:22 pm
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glow in the dark mushrooms really exist
Underground adventurers rejoice!
National Geographic link
Tags: gaming, national geographic, photograph
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11:53 am
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Piano stairs
This is a beautiful thing. It's in Swedish, it doesn't matter.
Current Mood:  happy
Tags: music, video
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