News

• 01.04.05 – Updated Ooze

  CSS Ooze has been overhauled, with two full page templates now available (utilizing CSS and grpahics). If you don't know, CSS Ooze is a division of PGP that offers web page templates up for free public use. If you have a web page, but don't know CSS, check it out.

• 01.01.05 – Loqi Posted

  I've posted a preliminary version of Loqi, a enw role-playing game that is the spiritual successor to Symmoira. It is a settingless system, and fairly rules light. It makes heavy use of improvosation through competing narrations. I would very much appreciate on it, so please read over it if you're interested.

• 12.12.04 – Trials On Sale

  Through the rest of December, Trials of the Grail will be on sale: The pdf will be $8.00 and the print edition $14.00!

• 12.05.04 – Trials Reviewed

  Travis Lee has reviewed TotG at the Gaming Report. Here's his conclusion:

  If you've got skill, creativity, and like to explore the hidden or higher meanings of stories, this is definitely the game for you.

  Awesome. In general, Travis seems to have really grokked what the game's about, and his review focuses on that. Thanks, Travis!

  
  Read the review!

• 12.03.04 – Variant Rules for TotG

  In the resources section for Trials of the Grail, you can now find a page of rules variants. These provide further “ways to play” that you might find useful. There are four variants now, and I'm in the process of writing up another large one.

• 11.12.04 – Graal Renamed, Available in Print

  Graal has been re-titled Trials of the Grail (TotG). It's also finally available in print as a 78-page perfect bound book through Lulu.com. You can get it for $16 USD plus S&H.

  

  So why the name change? Several reasons. Among them are easier recognition (modern English versus Old French), descriptive ability, and also to avoid confusion with an existing MMORPG. I considered a variety of other titles, but settled on Trials of the Grail since it maintains a connection with "Graal," (via "Grail") but is not obscure, as some of my alternatives, e.g. "The Lions and the Hart," were.

• 10.30.04 – Graal Discussion List

  I've created a mailing list for Graal: join it to discuss the game, ask questions, and find other players. Details...

• 10.16.04 – Methods of Design Updated

  Methods of Game Design has been updated a bit...I've been working on it, and may yet do more, but I figured I might as well upload what I've got. No major difference in my ideas in this version; it's mostly a refinement of their presentation.

• 10.15.04 – The New PGP

  It's been a while since an update, but I'm back and with a partial redesign. I think this version offers a consistency that the earlier ones lacked, while also being simple and offering good contrast.

  My CSS file is a lot cleaner to work with, but the major change, technically, is a much heavier relliance on graphics. Unlike earlier versions, this one was mocked up in photoshop and then lifted out to form the background segments. Previously I had drawn hand sketches, constructed the larger visual structure with divs, and then filled them in for added flair. Integrating the two from the ground up gives a lot more flexibility, and allows far more sophisticated visuals. Since my original pages used good symmantic markup, converting over was only a matter of inserting a couple of lines into each file. And of course it all still validates.

  A Flaming Red Animal

  I've begun using Mozilla Firefox, the spiffiest browser I've met yet. It's completely sound, fast, and appropriately renders any CSS I care to throw at it. I've also switched over from Opera to Firefox's companion e-mail client, Thunderbird. It doesn't do anything amazing, but it does everything it's supposed to: first time I've actually seen that in a client! (Yes, I know, the Opera mail client was atrocious and should be compared.) Firefox is spreading rapidly, thanks to the Department of Homeland Security, which advises its use over MS Internet Explorer, owing to security threats. Very good.

  Get Firefox now!

News Archive: Feb-May 2004 / Jun-Sep 2004