Spirit Blade: The Adventure Card Game- "Items and RPs"

As with the other card images I've posted so far, this one is a "pre-cut" version, so imagine the border to be thinner and rounded at the corners. Even so, this is a pretty good example if an "item" card, and also gives me an opportunity to explain the concept of "RPs".

In Spirit Blade: The Adventure Card Game, one or two players take on the role of Seekers, who have made it their mission to seek out and reclaim hidden or lost information about the nature of humanity and the universe that, if exposed to the public, could radically alter the destiny of the human race to our benefit.

Atlantis Incorporated, who benefits greatly from humanity's ignorance, has worked hard to conceal such information. In addition, Atlantis has stolen a multitude of designs and projects created by Raan Galvaanik, who once worked for Atlantis and now serves as a key operative in the Underground Liberation. So Seekers also endeavor to reclaim materials that by right belong to the Liberation.

Information, or you might even say "truth", is the currency of the Spirit Blade card game. Seekers spend most of the time in the game on missions, which usually take them behind enemy lines inside Atlantis property. While sneaking through security systems and fighting opposition, Seekers are always searching for information valuable to their cause. This information is measured in "Resource Points".

Nearly all items have a Resource Point Value. The Liberation has to gain all supplies "off the grid", and so some items are valuable simply for their raw material components, while others, like data pads or similar devices, contain valuable information that can be put to direct use in the work of the Liberation.

Between missions, Seekers can turn in items to the lab techs of the Liberation in exchange for other resources, like weapons, armor, or useful gadgets. In the above picture, the specific type of item is a "weapon", as indicated by the text on the card. Most items modify the Primary Stats (Attack Points, Defense Points, Hit Points, Spirit Points) of the Seeker using them. In this case, the Pulse Rifle adds 2 APs to a Seekers AP stat.

An item like this one can be "purchased" from Liberation lab techs between missions using available RPs, or it may also be found on a mission. A Seeker may also choose to exchange this item to the lab techs for half of its RP value rounded down. (125 RPs in this case.)

Now if that all sounds confusing to you, we can just as easily cut through all the nonsense for you veteran gamers and say "in this game, Gold Pieces are called Resource Points."

Stay tuned for more next month!

-Paeter Frandsen

Upcoming Changes and Special Feature Delay

With the audio book I've been working on effectively finished, I've been able to turn my attention to a few details that have been put on the back burner recently.

One of these details is the Special Feature for January. As you may already know, I create and release a new "special feature" each month and place it on our Media Page. Usually these are some sort of "behind the scenes" look at the productions we've released, and since last spring they have come in the form of videos nearly every month.

But my ancient video editing software (on my even more ancient desktop) has finally had enough of me, and is refusing to obey my commands, begging instead for a quick and merciful death. Re-installing may be an option, but it's more likely that I'll need to find some replacement software, hopefully for free.

Those of you who have gotten to know me a little on our forums may remember that I am technologically inept. So in addition to the hunt for new video editing software, I will need time to learn how to use it, which I don't imagine will happen quickly. Long story short, I won't be able to release a new special feature this month, but hope to be back on schedule next month.

In the meantime, if you have any suggestions for free video editing software on PC that is "grandma-friendly", I'd love to hear about it!

Leveraging Time

In addition to that little curve-ball, it's become necessary to adjust my work schedule significantly to better serve my wife and two boys. The amount of time I spend working will change very little, although my day to day routine is being put on its head.

Because of this, blog posts are now much more likely to go up in the evenings and I'm also planning a change in the regular content of both the Spirit Blade Underground Weblog and Paeter's Brain. My plan is to temporarily switch to a twice weekly posting schedule on Paeter's Brain (instead of three times) while retaining the regular schedule and content for the SBU Weblog. However once I have my ducks in a row, I plan to stop posting to Paeter's Brain and instead place the posts that would normally appear there elsewhere.

When I started "Paeter's Brain", I saw it as a way for listeners of SBP to see a little more of me as a person, and share in some of my random or not so random thoughts. But I believe the forums we launched in 2010 now serve that purpose much more effectively.

The movie reviews, my odd game reviews and philosophical musings about Geekdom from a biblical perspective will soon be posted on a new blog designed specifically for that purpose. I will also include an archive page that contains all of my past reviews and some other posts from Paeter's Brain. This will serve as a growing resource for Christian Geeks who are interested in engaging in their faith more as they enjoy the crazy fun that sci-fi, fantasy, horror and comic books offer.

In the end, I'm hoping this will allow me to leverage my time a little better and bring more focus (and more readers!) to the content I put online to represent Spirit Blade Productions.

If you have any questions, thoughts or suggestions as I prepare to move into this new territory, I'd love to get your feedback!

As always, thanks for your support!

-Paeter Frandsen

Underworld: Awakening (Movie Review)

I'm a big fan of the "Underworld" movies. It's hard to beat vampires in leather and trench-coats leaping from tall buildings and blowing away werewolves with handguns. But this cool concoction gets even better when you add a dash of character and story worth caring about.

Star-crossed love has been a consistent theme in all three of the previous films, and two of those featured a pivotal romance between Selene, the ultimate werewolf killer among vampires, and Michael, the first vampire/werewolf hybrid in history.

Underworld: Awakening opens a few months after the events of Underworld: Evolution. The existence of vampires and lycans (werewolves) has now been made public, resulting in a worldwide attempt to exterminate both species. Michael and Selene make hasty plans to escape and live in secret far away, but are captured in the attempt. Selene is frozen by scientists for experimentation and is freed 12 years later. She immediately begins looking for Michael, but instead finds her 12 year old daughter, removed from her womb and allowed to grow up in the confines of a laboratory. Together they hope to escape and find Michael.

First off, I should say that if you haven't seen the previous films in the series, don't bother with this one. Although they briefly try to "catch you up" in the beginning, you really have no reason to invest in Selene if you haven't watched her story from the beginning. This, in itself is not a mark against the movie, just something viewers should be aware of.

The action in this flick is some of the best yet, especially where Selene is concerned. She has tons of cool drops, jumps, flips and fight choreography that make the first 30 minutes possibly the best action in the series so far. If you were hoping to have that itch scratched, you're in for a treat.

The visual look of the series is also intact, with washed out, cold color schemes even during the daytime. Costumes and props all look great. It's the signature look of Underworld from start to finish, gory action and all.

What seems to be missing is the movie's heart. As I mentioned, the previous films all had a romance at their core. Two people in love that the people around them viciously aimed to tear apart. This movie was completely missing that element, and the absence was obvious through most of the movie, which often seemed like a horror/action flick on auto-pilot rather than the emotionally driven pattern (or attempted pattern) of the rest of the movies.

Scott Speedman, who played Michael in the previous films, was not involved in Awakening, and as of yet I've been unable to hunt down a reason why. The Hollywood politics of this remain a mystery for now. Instead, in the brief moments Michael is seen, he is represented by a stand-in (human or digital, I'm not sure) always partially obscured by an object or special effect.

The script feels like the result of trying to scrape together a replacement for Michael, the result being his role clumsily divided among multiple characters. Selene's daughter is a hybrid like her father, and so brings the special abilities that he had to the movie in his absence, and two male characters serve as "stand-in male support characters", though without any romantic connections to Selene. (Though I often thought things like, "I'll bet that was Michael sitting next to her in the first draft.")

Many other elements also feel like uninspired repetition of earlier characters and story elements.

Selene encounters a vampire coven leader who stands in opposition to her agenda, with age, hair and wardrobe almost identical to the Victor character in the first three films.

As each film progresses and Selene becomes stronger, the final threat she faces must increase as well. First it was an ancient and powerful vampire. Then it was the first and very oldest vampire. But in this flick, her final foe is just a really big lycan who heals extra fast. Honestly, I was never concerned for her safety for even a moment.

The fact that the existence of vampires and lycans is now public knowledge is an interesting new twist, and I don't think it hurts the movie. In fact, it may just be the game-changing breath of fresh air the franchise needs. On the other hand, this is the "Underworld" series, taking its name from the HIDDEN war between vampires and lycans. So this change seems to go against the original premise of the movies.

Bringing a daughter into Selene's life is another big game-changer. Even if Michael were present for most of this story, a child usually changes the core story from a romance to a story about family. I'm not against this idea, but it seems like the writers aren't willingly invested in it so much as they've been forced into it.

Selene really could have carried one entire movie by herself, dealing with the tragic loss of Michael as it rips her part. After building up this romance for two movies, we should have spent one entire movie mourning its loss with Selene. Instead, Michael is quickly yanked out of the picture and Selene is forced to give lip service to her grief while also dealing with the sudden existence of a daughter. Bringing her daughter into the story before we could see Selene fully deal with the loss of Michael cheats those of us who have invested in the romantic side of these films, and I believe it was a big mistake.

Of course you might say, "they had to cram a lot into this movie since they never know if they'll be making another one later". But the writers seem very confident that they'll be making at least one more, as this movie virtually ends on a cliffhanger. (A poor choice, given our reduced lack of investment in these characters.) With a run time of only 88 minutes, a disappointing final fight and the ending they chose to go with, this feels like only the first half of a complete movie. If that's the case, and they can manage to get Scott Speedman back next time, there is still plenty of opportunity to restore this series and end it very well, placing this movie in the role of "set-up" for the grand finale. And I'd be cool with that. But this is a hard one to recommend to anyone but big fans of the previous films.

I'm scanning my brain for something I might remember in this flick that might lead to worthwhile discussion afterward, but I'm coming up with nothing. In many respects this feels like your average "Resident Evil" movie: Cool gory action with zero substance. Pure, mindless escapism, if that's what you're in the mood for.

For fans of the genre, it's not bad. A cool flick that even has moments of visual greatness worth a ticket or rental. But it's definitely missing something substantial.

Rated R for strong violence and gore, and for some language.

Quality: 8.0/10

Relevance: 5.5/10

And to listen to this review this weekend, visit spiritblade.net/podcast