Polycephakles

A few months ago I was running a super hero themed RPG with some friends. When it was time to upgrade they decided it would be cool if they could combine Voltron style. Most of the body is of the bruiser of the group- Casing (hence the computer tower design). They said they wanted the character to be named hydra so the head became composed of SPAMMER the drone swarm. The gestalts right arm looks a little like an elephant but is actually POWER SUPPLY aka Pornachu.
The player wanted his character to look like Pikachu because of the electrical powers and later decided he wanted to be able to transform into a motorcycle. This is the same guy who started a half hour argument over which robot would make the best lover.
Finally the left hand is kind of a woodchipper weapon. The robot is called Processor who is super fast with claws and can run up walls. With that in mind I decided she/it had claws on both the hands and feet that could merge together into a maw of blades when combined with the others.

Mutant Housecats

Continuing my Fanfic of Rifts. In the game the post-apocalyptic Nazi-like group known as The Coalition have more than mutant dogs at their beckoning. The mutant cats and their armor were first debuted in Rifts Worldbook 13: Lonestar. What I've done is create stats for various breeds of housecats (The guy with the horns was designed by Ramon Perez Jr.)

Battle Cat Breeds
While researching Archeo-genomics Wendell discovered to her surprise that, like dogs, there was once a great variety of domestic cats. At the time of this discovery Lonestar had developed Battlecats from the genetic average of domestic cats as well as their larger and more feral cousins (tigers, lions, etc). Cat pedigrees were largely lost in the cataclysm because they were too clever for their own good. Cats are much more adept at escaping and breeding with another breed than dogs are. Cat breeds are also more difficult to identify by non-experts as many cat breeds come in a large variety of colors and the differences between the breeds are less dramatic.
The discovery of different breeds has had a significant effect on the deployment of Battlecats. Many of the discovered breeds are more doglike and easier/more willing to train. Other breeds have skill sets that enable Battlecats to be trained in military specialties previously reserved for Dogboys. Some Turkish Van Battlecats have been accepted into the Sea Dog training program. Domestic cats have a long history with seafarers because of their superior balance and rat catching prowess. While not as disciplined as their Dog Boy counterparts these Battle cats are excellent for night operations at sea.
Once the concept of cat breeds was in Wendell’s head the hard part was locating them, many breeds being extinct. A few of the breeds were created through genetic archives and/or selective breeding at Lone Star, others were found with private breeders or having found niche environments where they thrived without losing breed specific traits. The Kurilian Bobtail was an example of the latter. Though they were not an American breed these cats were imported from an island north of Japan before the golden age of science. After the cataclysm their pack hunting techniques allowed them to prey upon a wide variety of North American wildlife both on land and in streams.

01-05 Turkish Van
Less affectionate than other domestic breeds, +20% to swimming +1 strength
06-10 Khao Manee
+2d6 ISP +1D6 M.E. one additional sensitive +12% Sense Psychic and Magic Energy and Sense Supernatural Beings
11-15 Serengeti Cat
Jump 16ft
16-20 Sphinx
Hairless. +1D4 I.Q. High metabolism/body temperature +2 save versus disease
21-25 American Bobtail
Doglike personalities,Natural Escape Artist (65%), loves to travel, has Empathy in addition to starting psychic abilities.
26-30 American Curls
Kitten like personality P.B. +1d4
31-35 Siamese breeds
Very talkative +1 P.B. +1 I.Q. +1 M.A.
36-40 Somali
+2 I.Q. +2 P.P.
41-45 Kurilian Bobtail
Works in groups better than other breeds, M.A. +1, Difficult to breed (only have one litter a year), +5% hunting & Prowling +10% swimming +2 to strike  
46-50 California Spangle
Bred to resemble wild cats but actually very affectionate. +1D6 M.A. +1 P.P.
51-55 Devon Rex
Highly mischievous one time bonus of +15% to all espionage skills
56-60 Boxer Cat or American Polydactyl
Extra digits on hands and toes +20% to hold on to surface, +1 grapple, +1d6 claw attacks
61-65 Maine Coon
Large long hair cats (see mutation table), +1 P.S., +1 P.E., +12% Swimming, Speed is unaffected by snow, 25% also have Boxer cat modifications
66-70 American Shorthair
All have “rat catcher” mutation, +5% swimming
71-75 Norwegian Forest Cats
Resistant to cold (half damage)
76-80 Siberian
Large long hair cats (see mutation table), +1 P.S., +1 P.E., +5% physical skills where applicable
81-85 Egyptian Mau
+2D6 SPD +1 P.P. +1 initiative. +1 I.Q. Hate the cold
86-90 Himalayan
Large long hair cats (see mutation table) -8% smell  +3 P.B. +1D4 M.E.
91-95 Rag Doll
Large friendly cats +1D4 P.B. +1P.E. 5% deaf in one ear 25% gain Death Trance as an additional psychic ability
96-00 Savannah
Large Semi-domestic breed +7% to physical skills where applicable,  +1 P.S., +1 P.P., +1 P.E., Jump 16 ft vertically

Amazingly well done Spider-man movie

I love Amazing Spider-Man because of the changes. The creators of the film took what had always been there and refined it into a stronger version of the Marvel comics mythology.
Now some dorks who do not care for this movie because of the "flaws" might think I just don't know Spider-man like they do. Spidey has always been one of my favorite colors (when I was two I thought my amateur gymnast dad was Spider-man) but I became a regular reader when in the 6th grade I got a subscription to Amazing Spider-man from my grandmother (we were selling magazine subscriptions to raise money for the school). The first issue was the Shocker story prior to Carnage's first arc and I kept the subscription up until John Byrne took over and relaunched the series. Soon after I switched to Ultimate Spider-man.
Now that we got that out of the way let me explain why I threw the quotes around "flaws". When I watch a movie I judge it on how it stands as a film. I don't want to watch a bad movie whether it's about something I love or not. For example I think Hellboy is a great character and I've read most of the comics (maybe all if you don't count the spin offs), but I think the movie's suck. The hokey flick made me think Hellboy was a demonic cat lady (60 year old virgin). Spider-man doesn't fair much better with his cinematic track record up until the most recent film.
My understanding was that everything good about the first movie was removed. I had read that the original script dealt a lot to do with the roles of parents. This is an incredible angle on the character and supporting cast that was probably erased because film producers are sexists that think women can not relate to anything on screen other than romance.
I'm bringing this up because it ties into the new Spider-man movie. In the comics Flash Thompson's father put too much pressure on him to be the best athlete, Harry's dad pushed him to be the smartest (more like Peter), MJ's father was abusive and Peter was orphaned twice. That is material there for a good movie even without a miraculous spider bite.
I love when a filmmaker can take something that was always there and emboss it. I've read the comic, a literal translation isn't exciting to me. Everything they changed in Amazing Spider-man was for the better for example (spoilers begin here):

No Crusher Hogan: In the comics (as well as the Tobey Maguire film) Spider-man started out as a wrestler. I understand why Stan Lee did this in the original comic. It was to explain why a teenager would happen to have a spider costume.
But the movie did one better by taking this out of the story. Making the thief that kills Uncle Ben a random petty thief makes the world the story is set in seem more believable. Which reminds me...

Spider-man is a New Yorker: When I saw the first trailer and heard Spidey talk I was so excited because Spider-man sounded like he was from New York. He was no longer just some guy in a mask he was from somewhere.

Richard Parker Isn't a Spy: In many of the comics Peter Parker's parents were revealed to have died as spies. In the newer revised origin comics (AKA Ultimate Spider-man) his parents were scientist who died in a plane crash. The movie origin ties both of these together by depicting the Parker's as the subject of a corporate conspiracy of some sort.

Spider-man Wasn't Bitten By a Random Spider: My one worry about this film was that they were retelling the origin story. I've had a theory for a while that super heroes don't even need origin stories, that audiences will just accept that someone in a movie can have powers. The reason not to bother is if the origin gets in the way of the movie. But in Amazing Spider-man the origin forwards the story. Everything they show of Peter's past and origin moves the plot forward or adds depth to the character. Nothing takes me out of a movie more than questioning why the character is doing what they are doing. I don't remember doing that at all in this film.

Spider-man is more petty than Peter Parker: The most forced moments in the previous depictions of Spidey (including the comics) is when the writer makes Peter acts petty. In the movie Peter sticks up for others before he has any power at a cost to himself even. Spider-man is the one fighting crime for his own reason. He's not putting the good of others ahead of his own as was pointed out by...

Captain Stacy: It is great to have a character tell us why super heroes are kinda bullshit. I love super heroes but they belong in fantasy because they don't really make any sense in the real world. The example I always think of is Captain America beating up drug dealers. Is he going to beat up the guy selling weed? What about if the dealer is selling to kids? Would he also beat up a store clerk for selling to kids? Spider-man I could see beating up a drug dealer. He's a kid. He hasn't thought all of this through. An adult has thought about it. Police bust these criminals because they care about the law (or at least they are paid to care about the law). Captain America is a strategic genius. His talents are wasted on drug dealers (besides he basically took roids to become a superhero).
Captain Stacy gives us a perspective on where Spider-man fits into the order of things and advances the character by making Peter think about his motivations. He's more than the girlfriend's father who is also his advasary..

Gwen Stacy: I can't say a lot about Gwen Stacy but she does prove that the love interest doesn't have to be shoehorned into the plot. One of the things that ruins movies is introducing characters that were not needed. In superhero movies that character is usually the love interest. If she is needed it's as bait. Amazing Spider-man didn't treat Gwen this way.

The reason Gwen is treated so well in this movie is because this movie doesn't expect the audience to be stupid or shallow at any point. A good super hero movie is like any other story told in any media. It takes the best elements from what inspired it and forgets everything less than the best...

Pink Washing...

I recently watched an excellent documentary called "Pink Ribbon Inc." which really raised a lot of questions about just how a pink ribbon can 'save the ta-tas'.
When I was in art school it was quite before we had the kind of nude models you always see in the movies and such. It wasn't until my second semester that we had any women that were not grandmothers. One of the women (who I believe was named Barbara) was posing in a cave set (I still have the drawing). When I got to the part where I was drawing her breasts I noticed I couldn't get them right. Then I realized that one of here breasts was significantly less massive than the other and had scars on it.
At that moment I became more aware of breast cancer. Around the same time one of my aunts had found a lump and was told she might have to remove something the size of a golf ball from her and she said something like "you can't take something that big from these little breasts" (my grandma told me the story so she might have actually said titties or something). And I realized how much more devastating it must be for women who don't have bosoms to spare like Barbara did.
I'd probably seen Barbara naked three of four times before (and by time I mean 3 hour sessions four days a week) and didn't put it together.
Now all this awareness of mine didn't do anything to move us closer to curing breast cancer. With all the money being put into breast cancer awareness we have to ask: just what are we aware of? Okay we know it exists. Do we know how to prevent it? Do we know what causes it? Do we know how to cure it?

The answer my answer is "not as well as we know how to organize marathons for it and raise corporate profits"

My knowledge of this issue is not much but my bullshit detector is going off for the following reasons:

-Research is biased towards the companies funding it. Putting a corporate faces on breast cancer could be influencing the research. Pink Ribbon Inc (you can stream it on Netflix) presents the argument that it is.

-"awareness" seems to be an out dated goal "education" and "research" seem more relevant  Saying we need to increase breast cancer awareness seems odd to me.

-Breast Cancer foundations don't seem to care what companies participate. This bothers me for the same reason it bothers me to let cigarette companies make their own anti-smoking ads.

-There are companies who own the patents on different varieties of cancer cells. Which means that only they can run tests on it because it is somehow their intellectual property. If breast cancer awareness were effective this would be common knowledge. It isn't though it is in the courts right now.

-Yoplait's mail in tops seems to be doing more good for the post office than it is for breast cancer.

- Ty Burrell stars in a commercial that boasts that Mastercard will donate every time you make a purchase making you a real hero in the fight against breast cancer. The fine print says it is $.01 on every purchase over ten dollars. This commercial is in heavy rotation on Hulu so from my non tv watching point of view it appears to be their main marketing strategy.

Mutant Dalmatians

Continuing my series of Fanfic for Rifts RPG a new breed of mutant dog soldier

Dalmatians AKA Hellhounds
Dalmatian Dog Boys were originally given the name Hellhounds because of how surprisingly vicious they are. Before the cataclysm the breed was widely popular because of their decorative spots. Many people gave away the fully grown dogs because they were not the friendly family pets depicted in the popular media of the time.
While the name is often used to describe all Dalmatians, officially, the moniker is used for the 25% of Dalmatians with an affinity with fire.
Wendell’s team has found references to the relationship between pre-cataclysm firemen and the breed but they are unsure of it’s nature. Were the animals connected with the element all along or did they develop some sort of rapport after generations of being raised in firehouses? If it is the later, she can not understand why the breed was chosen in the first place (As clever as she is it hasn’t occurred to her that the tradition was started before firetrucks).  
Hellhounds have been received with mixed reviews because more of them are expected to go feral or turn on the Coalition by some trainers. The dalmatians with an affinity to fire lack the ability to sense evil that other Dog Boys have. Others find that paranoid logic and see the good far out weighing the occasional turncoat.
Hellhounds are very effective as part of fire fighting brigades. They are also useful for burning enemy crops and fighting enemies with fire/plasma attacks without the burden of providing additional equipment.

Breed Characteristics
P.E. +1d6 P.B. +1
25% of dalmatians receive Pyrokinesis and Impervious to Fire instead of the psychic abilities normally available to Dog Boys.
All dalmation dog boys have the potential to become bursters as they mature (instead of leveling up as Dog Boys). +10% to all Burster abilities if they do.

Mutant Pugs

Here's the section to my Palladium Books practice writing. One of the iconic creatures of Rifts is the dog boy there various breeds of dogs are available in the game. This is the first of many additions I'll be adding to the list of humanoid dog breeds

Pug
This charismatic breed almost useless as a military asset but have been great diplomatic tools. Mostly as giving the unaltered animals away as part of gift baskets during important negotiations. These dogs survived the Cataclysm because of their sheer number of them because of their popularity as pets, especially by the wealthy. Pugs have become the ultimate status symbol in post-rifts earth, because owning one is seen as openly mocking the “rifraf” that have to fight to survive. Offering a comeback to this insult is the Coalition ambassador, because they are the only ones with Pug Dog Boys.
Mutant pugs are very effective at coaxing people into giving up information they did not mean to divulge. The reason they are so effective is because pugs are genuinely agreeable which flatters people into forgetting where the pugs loyalty lies. Intelligence gathering has been reduced to diplomats finding an excuse to leave the room without their Pugboy attendant and later ask them what was discussed.
This strategy has only really failed once. The Coalition was seeking to develop a relationship with a group of arms dealers that specialized in modernizing pre-goldenage vehicles. For some inexplicable reason the mere presence of the Ambassador’s pug aid through the leader of the organization into a murderous rage.

Breed Characteristics
I.Q. -2 M.A. +2D4 P.B. +2 -30% to intimidate -20% to all scent related skills
After extended periods in warm conditions (above 80 degrees) Pugs must make a save of 14 or suffer heat stroke.
Pugs are also susceptible to having their eyes pop out from pressure to the neck (such as being choked by an irate arms dealer). If the eye is not immediately put back in it can be lost forever. Attackers who are surprised by this outcome must make a save 12 (+1 per 20% of pugs charm/impress) vs pity/mercy. Failing the save immediately drains all anger from the attacker and often leads to mild guilt/shame.

Rifts Fanfic

I've been obsessing over Rifts, an old tabletop RPG I played mostly in middle school. Here's a sketch I did during the Vice Presidential debate. It's part of a practice manuscript so I can get down the writing style before submitting to Rifts publisher.

Lone Star: Archeo-genomics project
Desmond Bradford has been bored with Dogboys for some time. He has moved onto bigger and better things. He gave little thought to approving, lowly but talented, Jean Wendell’s archeo-genomics proposal. He now feels he will come to regret his decision.
The archeo-genomics project revisits past accomplishments of the Lone Star complex and attempts to improve their viability. Primarily the team will be looking on new and better ways to use the Dog Boys and the process of ‘evolving’ various dog breeds. This prospect was very appealing to the bean counters in Chi-Town because it sounds inexpensive- which it is.
The name archeo-genomics is in reference to the part of the project focused on re-discovering lost breeds of domesticated dogs. Wendell discovered that pre-rifts there were many more dogs than anyone in Lone Star had previously. During the Cataclysm many breeds didn't have the survival skills to live on their own without civilization to help their gene’s carry on. While other breeds intermingled into a hardy ‘generic’ breed not too different than the Australian Dingo.
Some of the lost breeds continue to this day by finding niche environments while others continue on through hobbyist breeders.
In most cases Dr. Wendell’s team must search through pre-rifts material to find out specific traits of other breeds of dogs and use genetic engineering and even good old fashioned selective breeding to create an animal as close to breed standard as possible. Often they can check their work with broken chained samples of DNA in their files.
Wendell’s team has thus far been a boon to Bradford who gets credit for most of their accomplishments by those who count. She has redeemed several projects which were previously considered a waste of investment and she has lowered the cost of many types of operations.
What Bradford is concerned with is the fact that there is now someone who has the potential to be groomed into his replacement if any of his unsanctioned projects get discovered. On the other hand Dr. Wendell’s team is highly productive- so much so that they actually make it less obvious that Bradford is pouring most of his resources into projects on the lower floors of the Lone Star complex.

Psi-hounds AKA Psi-Calvary AKA Horsehounds
Prosek’s favorite of archeo-genomics accomplishment is the Psi-Calvary. Not only has it been useful in the ongoing attempts of the Coalition to tame the wilderness but also as a propaganda piece. These animals serve in contrast as evidence that Dog Boys are simply intelligent animals who walk on two legs. Anyone looking at Psi-Calvary can see they could be merely fancy giant dogs. Spending time with them makes it much easier to accept that Dog Boys are more advanced but basically the same.

The Psi-Calvary are actually an intermediate step in genetic engineering between common dogs and Dog Boys. This stage of the process was created before the idea of Dog Boys was fully conceived. The idea of using the natural abilities of dogs to sense the supernatural was there, but the idea was to use large semi-intelligent dogs in the manner of a fox hunt. 
Dr. Wendell came up with the idea of reissuing these creatures to solve the problem of transportation in the New West. Commanders were complaining that there were no practical vehicles for patrols along the western front. They are either too loud, cumbersome, or expensive for the Ops they’ve been running in the region. 
Wendell’s solution was a popular one. Psi-Calvary are popular mounts for lone wilderness scouts and death squads. These soldiers are notoriously anti-social and much prefer the company of these intelligent beast to that of their Dog Boy kin that annoy them in the way that other humans who are needy and seeking their approval annoy them.

(see image)
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Function
Primarily as riding mounts. Occationally a Horsehound is put into a Dog Pack to carry heavy equipment and/or supplies

Natural Abilities
Psi-Calvary have all the natural abilities of Dog Boys.

Attributes
I.Q. 2D6 (High animal intelligence) M.E. 3D6 M.A. 3D6 P.S. 3D6 +12 PP 3D6 P.E. 3D6+20 P.B. 2D6+5 S.P.D. 3D6 +15

Breeds
Psi-Calvary receive the same bonus for breeds as other Psi-hounds. The default size is about that of a horse. Smaller dog breeds being pony sized while larger dog breeds are closer to Clydesdales.

Skills
Tracking (+15%)
Prowl (+7%)
Climb (-10%)
Sense of Balance (-20%)
Swimming (+5%)