Four Winds BarFAQ
I've noticed a tendancy for some of the same questions to keep popping up. Rather than answering them over and over, I thought I'd post my own little FAQ and see if this helps. . . .
Table of Contents:
Q: Are you telling me that magic is real?
A: Why are you asking me? Make up your own mind.
Q: I want to believe in magic, but how can I know that it's real?
A: You probably never will. Most of the people who "study" magic never actually get anywhere with it. They either abandon it, forget it or become pretenders, trying to capitalize on the "glamour" of being perceived as a mage/witch/whatever even though they couldn't banish a bad mood.
If you don't feel daunted by that, keep it up. There may be hope for you yet.
Q: Will you cast a spell for me? I need. . . .
A: No.
Q: Then will you send me a spell that will. . . .
A: No.
Q: But I really need it! I'm under psychic/magical attack! Please help me!
A: What makes you so sure I'm not the one attacking you?
Q: What are all those sigils on your website?
A: Actually, they're there because I like the way they look. I can't honestly say that I remember what they are exactly, but they're little things like luck, health and better gnosis. Use them or don't. I don't really care. I put them up for me.
Q: I have a strong opinion about (something related to magic). Will you post my essay?
A: Probably not, but anything is possible.
Q: Why don't you use the word "chaote" like so-and-so?
A: Because of my personal feud with so-and-so! The fool will soon learn the error of crossing me! Even now my servitors close in on him to. . . .
Just kidding. No special reason. I just don't care for the word.
Q: What's your beef with White Wolf?
A: I don't really have a "beef" with White Wolf. I don't like the Storyteller mechanics. That's okay, though. There are several games whose mechanics I don't like. There is also a side-effect of their popularity that I don't like. Because creatures like vampires and werewolves are featured in the White Wolf games, there is a trend for people to want to use them to represent any genre in which vampires and werewolves feature prominantly, such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Anita Blake, no matter how little similarity those genres may bear to the World of Darkness.
Q: So? Everybody and his brother has been written-up for D&D, no matter how disparate the genre.
A: Those are characters. Writing up characters is one thing. Heck, even I would like to see a really good WoD write-up of Anita Blake (partially to see how many rules she breaks). But worlds are another matter. To properly represent a world requires a system conducive to the translation. Previous editions of D&D would have been a bad choice for many fantasy worlds. The jury is still out on 3rd Edition. . . .
Q: I have a strong opinion about (something related to roleplaying games). Will you post my essay?
A: Probably not, but anything is possible.
Q: Will you post my .wav/midi/.mp3 file?
A: Nah. If I post any actual music here, it'll be mine. The most I might give you is a link.
Q: Will you be posting any erotic fiction?
A: Where did that come from? Well . . . I don't have any plans to . . . but I suppose anything is possible.
Q: Will you post my fiction?
A: Probably not, but anything is possible.
Q: When will you finally post about (whatever)?
A: As the Minbari say, "In the fullness of time."
Q: Are you ever going to post any software you've written?
A: I might, if I decide I'm happy with the compression and I think it'd be useful to someone who isn't me.
Q: Why do you say "no" sometimes but "anything is possible" at other times?
A: Anything is possible. Some things, like me casting a spell for you, are just so unlikely as to be unworthy of consideration.