Draconomicon Interview

Wizards posted an interview with me regarding Draconomicon I: Chromatic Dragons, for which I was lead designer.

More ink has been spilled on describing dragons than on nearly any other creature. These ancient, noble, yet savage beasts are a favorite subject of guidebooks, bards' tales, and ancient tomes and scrolls. Draconic knowledge is gained at risk of life and limb; dragons are rapacious, jealous of their secrets... and often hungry.

Wizards of the Coast: With the release of Draconomicon, let's discuss dragons in general. Now that 4th Edition has been out now for several months, how do you feel 4E dragons compare to their counterparts of earlier editions? That is, in your experience how do you find 4E dragons playing around the table? From a design perspective, how are you approaching their creation any differently?

Bruce R. Cordell: Dragons were always the quintessential "solo" monsters, so in a sense, 4E dragons, unlike many other monsters, are more similar in theme to earlier edition dragons. A single dragon is a challenge the party fears to face. This was true before and should still be true now.

More here:
http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/4spot/20081126

Spin War for Minnesota Senate Seat Ensues

Challenging ballots as they come in puts them out of circulation for a recount, at least temporarily. This may give the impression that one of the candidates is winning a recount when it is simply too early to say.

Both candidates in Minnesota are challenging ballots as their recount moves forward, but it looks like the Republican candidate, Norm Coleman, is going slightly more crazy at this time.

From fivethirtyeight.com (Nate Silver):

Now, the Coleman campaign isn't being devious or anything like that; they're simply exploiting a flawed system and trying to win a spin war. But news organizations should recognize that -- as of about Friday afternoon when the number of challenges skyrocketed -- the entire first phase of the recount process essentially became a spin war. The running totals being reported by the Star Tribune and the Secretary of State are at this point fairly meaningless, and should be denoted as such; we aren't likely to learn very much more about the ultimate winner of the recount until the state canvassing board convenes in December.

Supreme Court Sides With Navy Over Whales

So much for Pacific whales. I guess the Supreme Court doesn't hold much with the ecosystem's value. I guess they don't think it's important the ecosystem maintains life on earth (life such as, say, Supreme Court justices) through a complex network of species interaction.

This decision was 5-4. Thanks George W. Bush, for stacking the court with science ignoramuses. That'll continue to serve us well long after you're run out town.

http://blog.wired.com/wiredscience/2008/11/supreme-court-n.html

Obama Changes The Lightbulbs

After reading this, I had to laugh, because it is true. Individuals can't change the world and make the USA energy independent. But, man, do I try.

In fact, my lightbulbs are CFL, my car hybrid, a portion of my power I purchase from wind farms, I balance the household carbon footprint with Terra Pass, and my batteries are rechargeable. And I'm a freakin' vegetarian partly for environmental reasons!

I think I deserve my own tax credit! Show me the money!

Here's the post that put me briefly in this comedic frame of mind:

http://www.terrapass.com/blog/posts/obama-are-you-kidding-me-with-the-light-bulbs

Little of This, Little of That

Today I spent a total of 6 hours in a Muay Thai test for my level 6 certification.

I pulled my glut half way through, and I'm going to have some terrific bruises, but I claim success nonetheless! Moreover, my friend Karol got her level 7 certification, and Todd his level 12 (well, his test is going to last this entire week...)

I'm pretty hungry, so I'm hoping a celebratory dinner is in the offing. But before that, a couple folks are coming over to take a look at the foster kittens even now trying to jump on the keyboard. It'll be fabulous if these two cats find a final home. As wonderful as they are, this house is already filled with adopted shelter cats (and a dog).

Finally, there is some interest from sites I've querried that review fantasy books in Plague of Spells. If you run a review site and would like a copy, I may have a couple to spare. Email me at bruce [ampersand] plagueofspells [period] com if you want a copy.

So ends this stream of consciousness blog entry. Where's the ice and ibuprofin?

VOTE

Things have been hectic for me lately on any front you care to name, but thankfully, I managed to vote. Actually, my legislative district (#33) has no polling places--it's all vote by mail. So my ballot went into the mail last week.

I pointed to Jeff Grubb's recommendations awhile back. Of course, he's not in my district. So I'd like to add one additional recommendation for a few folks whose campaign office I've visited:

State House of Representatives District 33, Pos 1: Tina Orwall
State House of Representatives District 33, Pos 2: Dave Upthegrove

Go vote!