Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Year in Review

Wow, what a year 2008 was. If someone had told me 365 days ago, what was to come, I'd've thought they were crazy.

The year started off in my standard crunch time at work. I did manage to get in some Warmachine playing though and my Eldar Spirit Host arrived. Immediately following that, I went on a short business trip. Upon my return I was informed that my marriage was over (hence all of the songs of loss).

Thoughts of politics surrounded my brain during the election, but as many know, I'm happy at the results.

2008 saw the loss of Gary Gygax. His legacy lives on. We also lost the original pin-up girl, Bettie Page.

Finally disgusted with WH40k Tourneys, I decided to just play home games. I'm glad I made this decision. This meant I played in a map campaign, which was quite enjoyable.

The most momentous day in 2008 was April 22nd. I had started dance lessons (which I really enjoyed) but most importantly destiny led me to meet the woman who'd eventually become my "Trophy Girlfriend".

My schedule eventually settled into playing RPGs on Saturday night with a bunch of friends at my house and a few roadtrips in MY NEW CAR where I discovered "Chicken Fried Bacon".

I decided I didn't like D&D 4E but that I did like going to see Marcia Ball and Carolyn Wonderland at Blues on the Green (Looking forward to next summer's!)

I dropped cable and land-line phone in favor of RoadRunner Turbo and my spiffy iPhone.

I started running a D&D 3.5/Pathfinder campaign based in Sharn and learned about "Star Wars: The Old Republic" MMO and a "Star Trek" MMO.

And most recently, I traded off my Brettonians as I realized there was no way I could get them all painted. I'm thinking about what would be another better fitting Fantasy Army for me.

Most importantly, my Trophy Girlfriend is now my Trophy Fiancee.

My game posts dropped off some while I was working on my metaphysical reboot, but hopefully, I'll get back on track. My 27" LCD Monitor must not go to waste.

Hopefully, 2009 will be a bit calmer.

Monday, December 29, 2008

Warhammer Fantasy Army

A little known fact is that I actually had most of a Warhammer Fantasy Brettonian Army. Sadly, when I looked at the painting requirements of the army, I decided that I didn't enjoy painting enough to really warrant the amount of painting required for the army. So, I've traded them off for more marines...

This begs a question. Assuming I DO decide to assemble a WFB army (one that is easy to paint), What army should it be?

Currently, I'm leaning towards a Warriors of Chaos army as they remind me of Molly Hatchet album covers...

Other possibilities are Lizardmen, Tomb Kings, or Dark Elves.

Realizing I don't really care about competitiveness, I'm open to comments!

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

On Vacation starting tomorrow

Have yourself a happy holiday season!



(Maybe NSFW)

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

As the HDD turns

So I decided to max out the RAM on my laptop this weekend...taking it to 2 Gigabytes of RAM.

Sounds easy right?

Well the first wrinkle is that it involved removing the keyboard. Of course, this wouldn't be a problem for a geek such as myself so I pulled out the screwdriver and 20 minutes later was booting up to 2 gig of RAM.

YAY....or so I thought.

Since then, the laptop has bluescreened several times.
I've swapped with known good ram, and still get blue screens.
I flashed the bios to the latest version, and still get blue screens.
I emptied the ram slot under the keybaord, it has blue screened.

*sigh*, I think my laptop is about to go to the computer lab in the sky...

For those who don't know, my real life/non gamer persona uses several computers as a Software Quality Engineer. My laptop isn't technically necessary, but it makes my life MUCH easier. I had been thinking about replacing my laptop maybe next year....I really wish I didn't have to do it now...

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

I want Linux....

I know people who are "Mac people" and I know people who are "Windows people". Despite how far both technologies have come, there is still the great divide that dates back to the days of EGA graphics. However, I was one of those "wierdos" who loved Unix. It's a wonderful and powerful OS. While I recognize that with the advent of Intel CPU Macintoshes, OS X is based on FreeBSD (a Unix variant), but the cost of proprietary hardware kinda bugs me. I love the weird hacker-esque command line arguments. I love the choice. I love the fact it's FREE. I love the fact that Linux acutally makes your PC use LESS electricity. I love that I can customize the OS compiles the way I want.

I really like Linux, but I find myself unable to run it because I have the following very key limitations in software availability.....
  1. No Itunes for Linux - If I could get something to sync my iphone, I could make the jump on one of the PCs I use regularly (I use 3).
  2. Support for Browsers other than IE or Safari - Netflix demands IE (and soon Safari). Because of this, I cannot use it on my HTPC (remember when I dropped cable? I pulled out an old disused PC and I stream TV shows on it).
If either of these two hurdles get surpassed, I can likely drop one of my Windows licenses.

Whenever time permits, I'm going to evaluate a couple of "Run Windows apps under Linux" programs, but it just seems silly to me. I don't WANT to keep sending money to Redmund.

Why does this HAVE to be so hard?!?!??!?!

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Monday, November 17, 2008

40k update

Interesting things happening on the 40k front for me. First of all, I'd like to send kudos to Fish and Chips painting! Get yer minis painted. I can speak from experience that Josef does an incredible job. I'm having him paint my Eldar Warhost that I purchased early this year! He's doing an amazing job of creating an "Ulthwae" warhost for me out of all the metal and plastic I've given him. As soon as I can, I'll be posting a good picture of the figs I'm getting. Meanwhile, check out his work here.

Coming soon to a table across from you!

Another thing, I recently purchased a second hand Space Marine army which I'm starting to incorporate into my huge batch of marines.

I think I'm up to approximately 2 companies worth of Marines. Needless to say, I'm rather happy about this.

Friday, November 14, 2008

A tribute to Rascal

People who know me know that I like
1. Old Blues Songs
2. Rascal, my Dachshund

Well, last night on SiriusXM radio, I heard an old blues song ABOUT a Dachshund! As any owner of such a dog knows, they LOVE to cuddle close and get under the blankets of the bed. So, here, we present a song by a Dachshund owner....


"Warm my Weiner"

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Veterans Day

I've been busy with work so I've not posted much, but

Let us remember today those who bought our freedom with their blood.

Thank a veteran.

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Monday, November 3, 2008

Friday, October 31, 2008

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

BOO!

A word from FDR

These economic royalists complain that we seek to overthrow the institutions of America. What they really complain of is that we seek to take away their power. Our allegiance to American institutions requires the overthrow of this kind of power. In vain they seek to hide behind the flag and the Constitution. In their blindness they forget what the flag and the Constitution stand for. Now, as always, they stand for democracy, not tyranny; for freedom, not subjection; and against a dictatorship by mob rule and the over-privileged alike.

--FDR

GO VOTE!!!!



(Apologies for political rant)

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Bioware interview about Star Wars:The Old Republic

Word of warning, y'all are going to see a LOT of stuff posted here about this game.

Deal with it....



OFFICIAL WEBSITE

Boy, I hope this game doesn't suck....

Ever read Slashdot?

It might be worth your while




May the Force be with you.

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

I just hope it's from Rudy's or Smokey Moes




You Are Barbeque Sauce



You are a social person. You enjoy cooking for other people.

You are both skillful and competitive. You enjoy mastering hard tasks.

You appreciate complexity more than simplicity.



Your taste in food tends to lean toward interesting flavors.

You appreciate exotic spice combinations. You tend to like cutting edge, fusion cuisine.

You get along with all personalities from a distance. Except salsa personalities, who always seem to annoy you.

Monday, October 13, 2008

I HAVE NO CABLE!

Yep, you read right, I unsubscribed from cable. I know, many of you dear readers are saying, "WTF?!?!?!" It's not as extreme as you first think.

First of all, I didn't watch a great deal of TV. Certainly, I do watch South Park, Fringe, Simpsons, Family Guy, and Battlestar Galactica. But really, not a lot compared to what is out there. However, I DID NOT GIVE ANY OF THIS UP!

How is that? You ask.

Well, my laptop has a S-Video connector which my TV also has. It also has a handy headphone adapter that I can hook into my surround sound system. I upgraded to Roadrunner premium when I dropped my cable and decided to start using the following websites...



Now, I am aware that these do not provide UBER picture quality, but if I want that, I'll watch the DVD! Oh, and yes...they have commercials, but...they are about 15 seconds of commercial per 15 minutes of TV....that is LESS than it would be if I fastforwarded on the DVR.

I'm saving $50/month by doing this.

Friday, October 10, 2008

NEW "Weird Al"!

As reported on Slashdot, Weird Al has decided to start releasing songs as he records them directly to iTunes. The first track has arrived, "Whatever You Like" a parody of TI's...."Whatever You Like".

It's only 99 miserable, lousy, stinking pennies.

That's less than a dollar...and considering how much THAT is worth right now, it's a bargain!

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

WAR! Huh?! What is it good for?

So, it seems that almost everyone I know who is remotely interested in MMOs is playing Warhammer Online Age of Reckoning. I've not played it yet, but my first impression was that it was a WoW rip-off (and I found WoW to be quite boring). Apparently, that is not necessarily the case and is a gem among MMOs. If I pick it up, I will on my next payday, but right now, I've started researching it.

SO, for any of you MMOers out there...have you played it? What do you think? Feel free to leave comments and let me know!

Monday, October 6, 2008

Allergies...

"RAGWEED POLLEN!"
- Dr. Ruth Leavitt, "The Andromeda Strain"

At least my blood isn't turning into dust, it's only felt that way for the past month...

Here is a little bit of entertainment to tide you over until the next REAL missive from me....

Apologies if this has been pulled before you view it

Friday, September 19, 2008

Monday, August 25, 2008

The Revenge of Rachael Storm?

If you look at the first posts of this blog, you will realize that the original purpose of this blog had to do with my then obsession with City of Heroes. To be sure, this *is* a great game I loved. However, 3 years straight of playing it meant that I grew tired of pounding around the city thwarting Tsoo (my favorite villain group).

Yet another MMO has hit my radar, Champions Online. Will the Big Bad Boulder Bitch return to pummel evil-doers into paste with fists of stone?

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Political Post

I try to stay a-political, But

From McCain's Campaign Blog.

I can't really say I'm thrilled by that comment. I don't like being marginalized. It is EXACTLY this type of comment that makes me hide my real name when I post about games. I've been treated like garbage in a couple of jobs when it was revealed I was a gamer.

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Quick Checkin!

Moving to busy time at work again, so posts will be few and far between until Sept.

So, enjoy a few bits from my favorite Japanese Girl Band until then....







If you like them, buy their albums at Amazon.com!

Thursday, August 14, 2008

Pathfinder Organized Play

I wasn't a super-fan of RPGA when I was a member (Living City/Living Force), but I did like the fact that you could download modules and play RPGs at conventions. It gave me a chance to meet new people.

Well, it appears that the folks at Paizo have taken their Pathfinder RPG (based on the D&D 3.5/d20 ruleset) and are creating a campaign based on this. Check out the Pathfinder Society Organized Play Campaign. You may not be interested in convention play, but its worth it for supporting a game company that is trying to appeal to tastes of gamers who might not like 4e.

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Order of the Stick

Vaarsuvius has the BEST line of all time in today's strip...

"And once again, Probability proves itself willing to sneak into a back alley and service Drama as would a copper-piece harlot."

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Star Trek Online

I ran across this Slashdot post yesterday about Star Trek Online.

Those who've been aboard the Pequod from the beginning, know that this started out as a City of Heroes blog. Cryptic Studios, who made City of Heroes, is the company creating Star Trek Online. Between Star Trek Online and the Knights of the Old Republic MMO, I hope that I'll be able to find a few fun computers games in my future.

Monday, August 11, 2008

I'm not fat, I'm big boned!

OK, maybe not.

Like many gamers (certainly not all gamers), I'm not necessarily the sveltest of people. I used to be a LOT heavier (about 440 max), but today, I could still stand to drop about 20-30 lbs. Every morning I walk about 45 minutes with wrist weights, ankle weights, and a weight vest. However, I've annoyingly been maintaining my current weight for the past few months. Admittedly, at least some of that fat has turned to muscle because of the weights. Yet my gut and the butt are still a bit larger than I'd prefer.

A friend of mine introduced me to The Daily Plate. After looking at this, I'm going to give it a try to see if I can get those last few pounds of padding on me gone. As he points out, for those of us that like gaming, one can approach this as a game that you are trying to win - and in this case, winning is good health.

I also recommend The Hacker's Diet for a few other pointers on dropping tonnage.

Thursday, August 7, 2008

RPG Balance

I ran across this article in my morning RSS feeds. I like it and I thought I'd share it as it sums up nicely my thoughts on balance w/r to RPGs (not wargames/not MMOs).

LINK.

I bring this up because when I was ramping up for my Eberron campaign, one of the players complained that he felt Warforged were "over power/unbalanced". This of course sandwiches nicely with the fact that the party I'm playing with has a lot of +1 ECL races in the mix.

There is the caveat to this that he doesn't address that you need to not break the verisimilitude and you need to not always go after the "Red button" on the character. Still...

Tuesday, August 5, 2008

A couple of Eberron bits

For those in my Sharn Campaign, you might find these two articles specifically interesting.

The cleric that was rescued was a member of the Church of the Silver Flame:
You don't need to read it, but if you'd like more information, you might enjoy learning more about it.

Monday, August 4, 2008

Dr. Horrible's Sing-A-Long Blog

Joss Whedon writes it.

And you will no doubt recognize: Codex, Doogie Howser, and Malcolm Reynolds starring in it.



buy it on iTunes.

(Yes, I know it totally screws up my blogs format, but it's worth it)

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Dungeons and Dragons Session - Hellenika Campaign - No Trans Fat !

Arion is by Callisto's bedside whispering to her. He turns to the group and asks for some time with her. The party leaves them alone (taking the horn). Upon leaving, the party hears a scuffling downstairs. The party heads down, to see the staff stopping a crowd of people trying to get by.

Tesla asks what they want, and the members of the crowd cries out that they are cursed and want the party to help each of them. The party attempts to calm them but fails. A voice from the door calls for them to calm down. It is the high priest of Apollo. This calms the crowd. He advises the crowd that this is the work of the gods and they should look to the gods for help. The crowd disperses.

The staff parts to let him through. He asks to speak to the party. The group heads to Arion's office. They introduce themselves (Tesla using his elven name, "Teslanthasa", as opposed to the name he is known by and pulling his hat down). The priest speculates that a member of the staff had started spreading the news that Arion's curse had been lifted.

He wants to know what the party is doing here. Gal reveals that the party is here to prevent a portal to the realm of the dead opening. The priest points out that being here would be problematic due to the party's fame and status as fugitives. He points out that due to magic and time travel. Kerin points out that he obviously knows more than he is letting on. The priest reminds her that Apollo is the god of Knowledge and Prophecy. The party points out that they have no other plans though Tesla says that he probably has an inkling as to what else they may do.

The priest, Kierkos, points out that he'd sent Stephanos to the party to assist them. He also points out that the party is in possession of a music box. He asks that while the party closes the portals, that they attempt to solve "The Riddle of the Music Box" as Aktitos plays a roll in what is happening and somehow the box is connected. The party tells him that Aktitos is dead. While melancholy, the priest indicates that it IS possible for Aktitos to return. Because Aktitos was "favored of Apollo", and that Apollo came to personally claim his body, the priest believes that Aktitos isn't in the land of the dead, but is instead, in a land far to the north, that there is a hidden valley in the mountains where Apollo stays when not driving his chariot across the sky. It is said that in this land, Apollo keeps all of his favourites who have passed on and so it is possible that Aktitos is there and possibly retrievable.

Somehow the box is connected, and Gal observes that they could travel north to retrieve Aktitos. The high priest suggests that he speak with Arion to assist the party in being low profile. He thanks the party for helping Arion and says he will do what he can though he cannot admit to knowledge of what the party is doing and cannot be seen helping the party. He recommends keeping distance from the temples of Zeus, Hera, Poseiden, Aries, and Demeter. Hermes is a "wild card" in this scheme. He points out there are factions in the remaining temples that aren't safe.

He goes on to reveal that it is likely that Gal's deity is 'Kybele', and is one of the banished gods. While he does not know the ultimate will of Apollo, he has been instructed to aid the banished gods especially in stopping the plans of the darker gods. He also points out that Tesla's outfit is very dated and bad.

The party decides to hide until dark, so they can quietly return to their inn. The priest excuses himself. Tesla gets a book on magic and sits down to read and wait for lunch. Lunch arrives. Tesla describes Stephanos to Gal who shapeshifts into a nondescript human male form. Tesla hands her his hat which she puts into a bag. (S)He heads out.

Gal notices a lot of people milling about the inn. However, Gal heads to the Bazaar with little difficulty. She puts on Tesla's hat. A person does meet Gal. The person is suspicious of Gal, and Gal ineptly attempts to convince him. fortunately for Gal, this person is as inept as Gal. (Sadly there is no way that I, the blogger, can describe the interchange between the GM and the person who plays Gal and do it justice).

They head back to the Golden Sunbeam, with Gal in the form of a beautiful woman. She provides cover for him to head to the rooms. She makes sure he is OK, and then heads back to the Brilliant Bard. A staff stops her from continuing to the office. She changes back into her normal form, allowing her to pass.

Tesla attempts to complement Gal, who thinks he is chiding her. Arion comes in, and he is much better and more ably. Callisto apparently does not recall anything from the past decade of being cursed. He says he is going to perform this evening and will perform an enchantment that will wipe the party from other people's memories. Its not permanent, but should last a couple weeks.

He tells the party that the Aries worshiper has apparently returned from a stroll with his "uncle", though no one recalls the uncle leaving. Arion points out that the suite next to the room is empty and will remain so to deal with the problem. The party casts detect magic to determine if the horn still has an enchantment on it. Tesla notices enchantment, but they don't know if that is still the same compulsion.

Arion creates a diversion by announcing his concert this evening to celebrate the lifting of his curse (free performance, free drinks). The party leaves and returns to the Golden Sunbeam and meets Stephanos. Tesla tells him that they will help, but he must help them with the portal. He is aware of a "Sideways hole to nowhere" as part of the prophecy he was given. He knows that he was to be instrumental in the battle by fighting "the undefeatable foe".

Iridinae tests Stephanos with swords. He is "moderately good", but not great. He tells the party that over the past few months, a number of his friends and family have died. Many were people who'd been contracted to educate the royal children. Kerin speculates that it has something to do with "The Queen's Daughter" (from a while back).

The party explains to Stephanos about Garm's attempt to overthrow the gods. Stephanos gets worried as this talk is heretical. The party convinces him that they're on the right side and have worked with Keirkos. He recognizes Iridinae and asks about her. She says that she was instructed by her temple to work with the party.

Gal asks about the prophecy. He says that he was to find the rogue who does not hide, hire him to do the unthinkable in reverse. He would reveal to him the sideways hole to nowhere where he'd fight the unbeatable foe and that would lead him to the answers he seeks. Tesla and Iridinae realize that the "unthinkable" is the heretical thoughts of Garm overthrowing the gods. After all, heresy, by definition, is unthinkable. In reverse would mean maintaining the "status quo" (A phrase used repeated in Timeos'/Boxo's journal).

Stephanos officially hires the party to prevent the overthrow of the gods.

Session ends.

*The decision has been made to temporarily put the campaign on summer hiatus.*

More Food

I listen to The Splendid Table on NPR, the show for people who love to eat.

A recent episode mentioned Louie Mueller BBQ in Taylor. Texas Monthly named it #5 on it's most recent best BBQ article.

Sunday, July 27, 2008

Dungeons and Dragons Session - Eberron Campaign - A story begins

On Saturday night, the Eberron Campaign started...

The cast of characters (in order of the sheets next to me):
  • Tosca Zarchadis - Changling Rogue
  • Kal'tozak - Fallen Demon Duskblade
  • Sequester Cross - Humanoid Swordsage
  • Liver Mist - Quickling Jester
  • Dominicus - Illonis Cleric
  • Agotha Broska - Vampiric Elven Warlock
  • Chava Arvid of Clan Roza at Stormhold Eyrie - Niomus Spellsinger
(Changling is in the Eberron Campaign Setting; Fallen Demon, Illonis, Niomus are listed in The Fantasy Flight Games Supplement Mythic Races; Quickling is in Arcana Evolved; Duskblade is in Player's Handbook II; Warlock is in Complete Arcane; Spellsinger is in Kingdoms of Kalamar Player's Handbook; Jester is from the Dragon Compendium; Swordsage is from the Book of Nine Swords - level adjustments have been taken into account)

It is two years after the end of The Last War that ravaged across the continent of Khorvaire. In country of Breland is the city of Sharn, the City of Towers. This thriving, cosmopolitan metropolis is the largest on Khorvaire and looms atop an inhospitable outcropping of rock near the mouth of the Dagger River. It is here that our story begins.

The story opens on a late summer evening in Sharn. Drizzle was falling from a dark, grey sky.

Deep below the city, in the area of Sharn known as "the Fallen", Agotha awoke. The hunger gnawed at her, she knew she must feed soon. Her eyes fell upon Liver, who shared her lair. He was a small being but she had little choice and asked for him to submit to her, so that she may feed. She took just enough blood to satiate her hunger, but not enough to kill. They proceeded to The Bazaar in Middle Dura.

In the Dragon Crypts, a lone figure walked toward a small mausoleum. Dominicus was an Illonis, a blind being from a long forgotten plane of existance. He resided in the necropolis as a last resort. Pushing the the door to the mausoleam open revealed a demonic being sitting in the darkness, Kal'toras. He was also an outcast from society, as his demonic visage alienated all those who saw him. Despite the rain, Dominicus desired company and they chose to walk to the lower class necropolis known as Halden's Tomb.

Meanwhile, Tosca walked through the Bazaar in Middle Dura, hoping to find work. She was greeted by Chava who'd just finished her last errand for the evening. They began to talk as they heard a cry from a nearby alley followed by sounds of a scuffle. The two ran to discover a man being beaten up by a couple of thugs. They easily intimidated the two toughs who fled, with a threat of "Stay away from the orphanage."

They helped the cleric up and made sure he was OK. At this time, Agotha and Liver were walking through the Bazaar when Agotha caught the scent of the clerics blood, piquing her curiousity. They find Chava and Tosca (Chava and Agotha have met previously). The quartet offer to escort the cleric back to his temple (The Church of the Silver Flame) in Upper Dura. Agotha first pauses to get food for Liver (as he was still weak from being fed upon). She found a street food salesman who she attempted to intimidate. Chava simply paid for the food.

Back in the Necropolis, Dominicus and Kal'toras encounter Kal'toras's friend Sequiter. They continue to Halden's tomb. Dominicus sings a haunting song of battle which attracts the attention of two ghoulish beings. They were skinless bodies with grey, wet musculature. While the party made quick work of the two, the battle attracted two largers ones, who they barely defeated.

In the Bazaar, Tosca asks the Cleric why he was attacked. The cleric informs them that the Lantern Way Orphanage had recently had four children kidnapped. His church had sent him to perform a preliminary investigation. It was on the way back that the two thugs attacked him. He had yet to uncover any information, as the doors of the rooms the children were in had been locked for the night.

Session ends.

Friday, July 25, 2008

Sharn Primer

For those readers who will be participating in my D&D Campaign, I recommend keeping up with my blog for info.

First, note that anything to do with my campaign will have the "Eberron" metatag. By Clicking on the metatag, you will be able to view all posts that deal with this campaign.

Secondly, as previously noted, this is a city based campaign located in Sharn: The City of Towers in the realm of Eberron. While I don't require any players know anything about Sharn, I would like to offer these links to provide deeper information if you'd like a primer.
From a GM perspective, I'm using Ten Foot Wiki to manage campaign info.

Also, I ask my players to do two things in combat:
  1. Know what you are going to do when I call on you
  2. If necessary, have the rule/spell out and ready for me to look at

Thursday, July 24, 2008

Carolyn Wonderland @ Blues on the Green - Last night

I saw Carolyn Wonderland with the Trophy Girlfriend @ Blues on the Green.

If you can, get out to see her and buy her CDs!





Wednesday, July 23, 2008

PHEAR ME!

I am a member of the Adeptus Astragalactica!

MUAH-HA-HA-HA-HA!

And I cut my thumb open with an exacto clearing flash off of one of my Warhammer 40k 5th ed counters :(

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

3.5 House Rules

In prepping to run my 3.5 campaign I am assembling some house rules. I figured I'd log a few of them here along with the reasons why.

Bull Strength, Cat's Grace, Bear's Endurance, Fox's Cunning, Owl's Wisdom, and Eagle's Splendor - the duration of these is 10 minutes/level, not 1 minute/level. I did this because I do not like 1 minute/level spells. They encourage rushing through encounters rather than balancing the buff/duration. I'm not a great fan of 1 min/level spells. Monte Cook talks about the issue here.

I'm a big fan of Monte Cook. I think he has a knack for balancing and figuring how what is "cool".

I'm using the 3.0 version of Polymorph. Read the 3.5 version of Polymorph self, then look at Alter Self. Its a rather pathetic spell. Also, 3.5's baleful polymorph - GONE.

Weapon sizing works like it does in 3.0. A dagger for a "medium-sized" creature is a "short-sword" for a small creature. 3.5 differentiates the two. That always rubbed me the wrong way, especially since J.R.R. Tolkein set the precidence that the interchange was OK. Remember Bilbo/Frodo's short sword, Sting? It was actually WAS a dagger that got passed along.

Action Points: Eberron uses Action Points. If you look at the d20 SRD, you will see how that works. Well, I'm expanding that a little bit. You can be awarded Action Points for doing something Cool, Heroic, and especially Herioc at a Dramatically Appropriate time (if you remember WEG Star Wars, you will understand this concept comes from Force Points).

Damage Reduction: Monte Cook puts it best.

Now, many readers I'm sure are saying "Wow! 10 people!" Well, I again turn to Monte Cook for information: Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.

I'll post more on this later.

Monday, July 21, 2008

A new campaign and an MMO ANNOUCED!!!

So, I'm in two gaming groups. Everyone who reads here knows that I'm in a gaming group on Wednesdays. We switch out GMs and the current GM is running the Hellenika campaign. That group is about to take a break for various reasons.

However, the OTHER gaming group which meets on Saturdays has got me to ramp up and run a D&D game. Well, I've wanted to run a city based campaign that takes place in Sharn (The City of Towers from Eberron). I'm planning to also use the Ptolus book as a source. I will be running it with D&D 3.5/Pathfinder system.

The only trick will be that this is a HUGE group (about 10 peeps) to run with.

We shall see how this goes.

On another topic....

IT'S OFFICIAL! Bioware is making Star Wars: The Old Republic MMORPG!

Friday, July 18, 2008

Road Trips

As many of you know, since I got my little pony, I've made a few road trips for lunch. I've been to Cooper's BBQ in Llano and Sodalak's for Chicken Fried Bacon in Snook. I also made a trip to Fredericksburg and hiked Enchanted Rock, but that was in someone else's car. Of course, I also headed to San Antonio for Spam-a-lot with the Trophy Girlfriend.

I don't know when I'm going, but here is the next destination.

If you want a little road trip, I also recommend Hard Eight BBQ in Stephenville.

So, gentle readers, what places within 2 hours of Austin would YOU recommend for a Saturday road trip and a good meal?

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Dungeons and Dragons Session - Hellenika Campaign - I love it when a plan comes together

The party decides that a frontal assault is best and makes plans to attack the following day. They decide to capture her and bring her back to Arion. A little more information gather reveals that the undead being terrorizing the area does so every year about this time.

The next morning, the party leaves the city toward the last known location of Callisto. The party heads to the cave, leaving behind the skittish horses. Gal hears odd baying around the otherside of the hill. She changes to Giant form. Kerin casts buff spells (including electrical resistance, knowing that Tesla will be blasting electricity).

As the party rounds the hill, they see a pack of undead dogs tearing apart a small fox. Iridinae fires her bow at them. Tesla fires a massive ball of electricity which destroys a bunch of them. Gal rushes into the pack striking at several of them, her druidic abilities allowing her to charge across the rough terrain. Kerin feels a tugging from behind her just as she is about to act. She still manages to move forward.

The battle continues with Iridinae firing again, but a second blast from Tesla takes out the remaining undead dogs.

Immediately following the battle, Kerin feels her pack pulling her away. She opens her pack and looks. The music box given to her by Aktitos is pulling toward the fox. The music box opens and the fox vanishes.

Tesla casts fly on the group and they glide around to the mouth of the cave. It also is now full of zombie wolves. Iridinae fires killing one. Tesla blasts, killing many. The rest of the group pressing taking no damage. Iridinae fires again at one of the 4 remaining killing it. Tesla blasts again killing the rest.

There is a glow from inside the cave. The party is greeted with a large firey horse (a Nightmare). It swings a hoof at Kerin. Iridinae draws her sword and moves into melee. Tesla fires daggers of electricity at it doing minor damage. Gal swings, doing massive damage to it. Kerin moves in and starts stabbing at it, killing it utterly.

The party proceeds into the cave, Gal shifting to Ogre form. They hear growls as they move deeper. They find a sleeping figure being guarded by two undead wolves. Iridinae cuts at one. Tesla fires rays of electricity, killing one wolf and wounding the other. Gal moves up and starts swinging at the remaining wolf, killing it.

Kerin casts detect magic, seeing a great deal of magic. The area is clear, though the body radiates magic. They wrap the body in the hellhound cloaks and remove all of her magic items. They grab the horn and proceed.

They return to the city and go to the Inn. Arion is melancholy over seeing his sister. Upon taking the horn he becomes dazed and immediately tries to blow it. Kerin casts silence before he can. Gal attempts to wrestle it, away, but tries to blow it. Kerin wraps it in a cloak and takes it from her.

They wrap the horn in a cloak so that Arion need not touch it and Iridinae gives him her Cloak of Resistance. They decide to go to his quarters in case something goes awry.

He blows into the horn, creating a musical 'hunting horn' sound. He attempts to sing, but fails. The group suggests he write the lyrics down but this doesn't work. After a discussion, he recalls that he has a music box similar to the ones Stiggos had given the party. He says he taught Stiggos how to make them. He finds his music box.

He blows the horn and opens his music box. His music brings Iridinae and Tesla to tears. The room is bathed in sunlight and they see his limbs heal and his sister regain life. She awakens and remembers him.

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

Back on the Battlewagon

Ever since the 'Dark Times' of February, I've pretty much fallen off the 40k building and painting wagon. All that Eldar stuff I got (look in January, you'll see) is still shrink wrapped. Also, normal wear and tear means that the Anger Sharks have seen better days.

This weekend, a new edition of Warhammer 40k is being released. Furthermore, I actually have a 40k table of my own. So I think it is good to start getting back into the building. To this end, I'm going to try to set aside about an hour a day to work on modeling. I have one of my Wave Serpents out and hopefully will be able to start building it today (before going to see Los Lonely Boys at Blues on the Green).

Sadly though, I think that due to the replacement of the central AC in my house, any hopes of getting a Space Marine Battle Company is slim. Yes, I know I don't need that many troops, but MAN that'd be cool to have.

ANYWAY, here's hoping!

Thursday, June 26, 2008

Marcia Ball

I went to Blues on the Green last night and saw Marcia Ball.



She rocked!

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

The Way to Eden

I watched the Star Trek episode The Way to Eden this morning and I have a few things to say.

1. Space Hippies piss me off.

2. Herbert, you're gonna look pretty funny tryin' to eat corn on the cob with no f***in' teeth!

3. "Dr. Sevron is insane". Gotta love the 60's. None of this DSM IV stuff, just "he's insane". Simple and clean.

4. So, when Mr. Spock "has a session" with the space hippies they use a standard 3-chord 12-bar blues progression for their music, but with 'futuristic' sounding instruments. It's nice to know that the perfect musical construct lasts until the 23rd century. I guess the modern blues master 'T-Bone T'pel of Vulcan' is quite influential. After all, notice when the music is playing Spock nods in approval.

Monday, June 23, 2008

My stance on 4E

I have played Dungeons and Dragons 4th Edition.

As many people know, I started playing D&D with 3rd Edition. I didn't like 1st and 2nd Eds - but I do have familiarity with those editions. Now, Wizards of the Coast has given us 4E. What do I think?

I don't like 4E.

To be clear, Fourth Edition seems to be a good system. From what I've seen it looks like it has been balanced and it doesn't have some of the idiosyncrasies that previous editions have (A low level wizard running out of things to do, except hide because they cannot take ANY damage). So, it DOES work.

But, to me it doesn't FEEL like D&D. those idiosyncrasies are things that made D&D what it is. For example, I was never fond of the Vancian magic system, but I think the current 'infinite shots' of a power goes a little too far the other way. I hope it brings new gamers to the hobby, and I sincerely hope it is successful. BUT, I see me going back to my pre-3rd ed stance and not being a D&D player.

SO, what is there for me?

Paizo is preparing to release THIS.

The Pathfinder RPG is basically a refinement of 3.5 that tries not to invalidate the HUGE 3.5/3.0 library you (if you are like me) have. I've not yet gotten my grubby hands on a playtest copy yet, but I have high hopes.

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Dungeons and Dragons Session - Hellenika Campaign - Sometimes I think I do to much Rogue-ishness

The performer comes out on stage and plays. Food and drink are good. The clientelle appears wealthy (merchants). The party sees one of the people Gal spied upon (a corpulent fellow with many women). Iridinae recognizes him from her past - the queen's father. This arouses the party's suspicions as to what he is doing here.

After hearing about the curse from other patrons, Tesla asks what is the nature of the curse. No one can agree on what it is. The party returns to the inn of the Golden Sunbeam. The night passes uneventfully.

Morning arrives.

Kerin announces that we have a message from Fred (via sending) telling us to "Keep him there. Tell him to go on to the king and ask him for..." Relnik says he was coming down to set up diplomatic relations with Hellenika. Kerin sends a response indicating that he ran out of words.

The party heads over to the inn of the Brilliant Bard.

The waitstaff there takes the party to Arion's office. After a few minutes, he comes in. Arion asks further of about the gate that they know will be forming in the Inn. The party tells him what they know. Arion suggests a deal.

Arion tells the story. He had been part of an adventuring group until he was cursed and forced them to be separated. Arion starts getting vague. He talks about a contest that they had cheated on, hence the curse. It becomes apparent that the curse is preventing him from performing (which makes it difficult for him to rely the story).

With assistance from Tesla the story becomes apparent...

After the war with Aphryggia, Callisto had bragged that she and Arion were superior to the twin gods in skill. The gods (in human form) challenged them to a contest. However, Callisto bribed the judges. The gods found out and they were cursed.

Arion is unable to perform and is lame. Further, he can only operate during the day
Callisto is only able to hunt and appears to be undead. Further, she can only operate during the night.

To break the curse, the group must bring the two together, so that he can serenade her while holding her horn (which can control undead).

He asks the party to bring them together.

The party agrees to help. They decide to find her first before facing the Aries worshiper.

Arion provides Kerin with a comb with which she can attempt to scry for Callisto.

The party splits up.

Tesla attempts to find information regarding "bad hunting". A young urchin approaches him saying that someone at the "Priapic Stallion" wants to speak with him. While wary, Tesla follows. He is led to a corner booth where a young man is sitting. The young man identifies himself as "Valnos" and that he needs assistance from the "Rogue who does not hide." It quickly becomes apparent that this person is not who he seems. Tesla finally recognizes him as the King's Companion. Stephanos asks him to break into the castle and leave a note. Tesla tells him he will render a decision tomorrow.

Meanwhile, Iridinae takes Woof-Woof out to the countryside for running and hunting. Irinidae returns to the city and purchases a small piglet for the sacrifice for entering the city. As she enters a man runs up and offers to wipe down her horse. She recognizes a cloth that he has (similar to what she has) and asks him where it came from. He says he had it for a long time.

Meanwhile Meanwhile, Kerin goes to procure the font and holy water for the divination to find Callisto. As she leaves the temple district, she sees Pirithuous going to the temple of Aries. She casts clairvoyance to attempt to determine what he is doing. She 'sees' that he walks into the temple which is appropriately decorated as a temple to Aries. He walks up to a cleric of Aries who is talking to someone. Pirithuous shoves the civilian off to the side. The civilian and Pirithuous each draw weapons. The cleric yells and gesticulates. Pirithuous relaxes and the civilian is cowed and leaves. The cleric and Pirithuous talk to each other. They move into another room as the spell ends.

Meanwhile Meanwhile Meanwhile, Gal changes into a hawk and flies out to scout the Northeast area where they believe Callisto is. She flies over a wooded area with a thick canopy. She notices there is much less game that she'd normally expect in this area. There are definitely areas where a large pack has come through trampling brush. Gal attempts to follow the trail. She concludes the pack is three dozen strong. There is also signs of hoof prints. She follows the trail to a hilly area. It appears that the pack has entered a cave. She returns.

The party gathers back at the Inn and shares information.

The party enjoys dinner at the Golden Sunbeam and formulates plans.

Monday, June 2, 2008

Dungeon and Dragons session - Hellenika Campaign - MASSIVE UPDATE!

CATCHING UP!
Boxo returned the party to Hellenika, dropping them off behind the Inn of the Brilliant Bard in Pytho. There they encountered a cat which Tesla dispeled, returning Relnic to his natural form. He explained how Fred sent him to be an ambassador to Hellenika soon after Fred returned to reality, but he was captured by Allyrians, turned into a cat, infected with a plague, and released in Hellenika to start the great plague. He at one point briefly became human again but soon transformed back. The party took rooms at the nearby Inn of the Golden Sunbeam. They discovered a note in Woof-Woof’s collar leading them to the former inn’s stables where they found their horses, Kerin’s gold from Lendor, and pink armor for Gal from her “grandfather.”

The next day the party split up to investigate the town. Gal investigated the Inn of the Brilliant Bard as a cat and discovered closed-off upstairs rooms, one with strange smells. As a snake, he laid in wait and saw prostitutes and later a man come out of the other room. Kerin and Relnic bought clothes and discovered at the Temple of Athena that Tesla was wanted for heresy. Tesla discovered the same when he paid his magic item fee at the Mage Guild. Iridinae visited the Temple of Artemis and learned that the King’s Companion Stephanos is missing. She also found out that a couple of embassies have been sent to the Land of Fred but haven’t been heard from. At lunch the party observed a rude, evil customer named Pirithoos who is a regular at the Golden Sunbeam.

Kerin tried to scan the strange room at the Brilliant Bard but failed. She sent a message to Fred that Relnic had been found. Gal followed Pirithoos around town, leaving him at the Temple of Ares. Gal returned to the Brilliant Bard as a rat and warped the wood to the door to peer in. She sensed creatures inside but as she was investigating she heard someone coming up the stairs and so darted into the room where she ran into something.

Meanwhile, the party was back at the inn of the Golden Sunbeam while gal was in rat form and running into a creature under the bed as someone was coming up the stairs.

In fact, a few of these small creatures (who appeared to be humanoid) were in the room, and chased Gal out with cries of "Dinner!". Gal managed to escape and return to the Inn to meet with the party and relay the story.

At this point, a man comes in and starts talking to talks to a man working on some bookkeeping.

Kerin casts claireaudience. The man and the bookkeeper are having a discussion about a complaint of a "rat infestation". The other person apparently works at the Brilliant Bard and is named "Arion". The guest who complained is "Well connected" and "secretive". The 'special guest' took out the room a couple months ago and has the room paid up a year in advance. He does not permit any entry into the room, not even for cleaning. Apparently, the guest is rude to the guests and has an "uncle" who lives on the premise.

Arion walks by the table and "falls". Gal manages to catch him. Arion recognizes the party as "Adventurers" and invites the party to dinner at the inn of the Brilliant Bard. He is surprised that the group assents as the Inn of the Brilliant Bard has a bad reputation amongst clergy, and clergy will not dine there.

After he leaves, the party discusses about what the "humanoids" Gal encountered were. They decide to go to a temple of Apollo for information on what it was. A woman at the temple of Apollo helps and after some research Gal determines that the critter was a "Redcap".

They return to the Golden Sunbeam inn when Kerin casts divinations on the Pirithoos. She notes that she has magic items, but doesn't get a great more detail.

That afternoon, the party investigates why the Inn of the Brilliant Bard has a bad reputation. We find out that the "Twin Gods" cursed it. (Apollo and Artemis) cursed him and his sister as they were angered at them (Arion and Callisto).

The party buys clothes for the dinner, and then heads out dinner.

Arion comes out to greet them and invites them to sit near the stage. Arion concludes that they are from another plane.

Arion reveals that he and his sister "erred" and the deities "corrected" them.

The party tells Arion about the Aries worshipper. Arion reveals that he does not recognize the race of Gal. (Gal is in human form). The party tells Arion about the plot of Garm. Arion leaves.

Monday, May 19, 2008

Happy Monday!

The one bit of gaming news - Check out "Unhallowed Metropolis". VERY interesting RPG Setting.

From the site:

    Unhallowed Metropolis is a dark horror fable written and created by Jason Soles and Nicole Vega. Inspired by the works of Edgar Allen Poe, Robert Louis Stevenson, and Nikola Tesla and painstakingly researched by the authors, the game is steeped heavily in Victorian history and science to provide a rich role-playing experience. A Dark World - Set two hundred years in a terrifying London, after the advent of the Zombie Plague, it has taken decades for the survivors to learn to fight back, to retake what they had lost. Recalling the golden age that had come before, the Neo-Victorians set out to rebuild their shattered world. Despite the heavy cost in human life, their cities were reclaimed one by one until only the sepulchers, or plague-cities, remained under death's dominion. Though the survivors had succeeded constructing a new world on the bones of the old, it is a world rife with terrors undreamt of.

On to other matters,
This was very good.


AND, I hiked Enchanted Rock this weekend. I made it to the summit.

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Dungeons and Dragons session - Hellenika Campaign - or not

Yes, I'm behind on it, I thought I'd have a chance to catch up, but I didn't. Work got busy, so it will take a bit to get back on it.

I'll let you know...

Wednesday, May 7, 2008

Dungeons and Dragons session - Hellenika Campaign - COMING SOON

I got an audio file of the last session which I've not transcribed yet. I will post it and tonight's session in the same post, probably in the next day or two. Watch this for an update!

Monday, May 5, 2008

Its over.

So, in honor of this special day and the woman who made it possible, I have a little song.



It's available on THIS ALBUM - Buy it.

On a lighter note with regard to this...

I want to thank all of my friends. I could not have gotten through this without all of you wishing me well and checking up on me.

Friday, May 2, 2008

My Little Pony

I recently went to a local Ford dealership...



Personally, I disagree with Jeremy's classification...it IS "Super-Cool"...



After all, you can do some amazing things with it...



But he DOES complain a lot about American cars anyway. At least they get the idea that there is a bit of form over function about a vehicle this beautiful.



Now, sure this is just the potential and they don't usually come this way from the dealership...but there is a lot of blacktop in Texas, and some of us keep our cars for a LONG time.

I've wanted a Mustang since I was 14.

Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Tuesday, April 29, 2008

40k Map campaign update

Well, due to complete idiocy on my part, I missed the Saturday game. I've added the next session to my calendar so that I don't make the same mistake.

That being said, I needed to come up with names for my various leaders thus far.

And so, the Anger Sharks leaders ARE...

1. Punch Rockgroin
2. Fridge Largemeat
3. Slab Squatthrust
4. Butch Deadlift

Each is a Blood Angels Chaplain with Jetpack.

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

HA!

You are The Joker

The Clown Prince of Crime. You are a brilliant mastermind but are criminally insane. You love to joke around while accomplishing the task at hand.


Click here to take the Supervillain Personality Quiz

Good mood today!

I'm in an incredibly good mood today. Between Oyster Bake on Saturday and Jitterbug last night I'm feeling like rockin!



A good night sleep last night didn't hurt either.

Monday, April 21, 2008

Oyster Bake

On Saturday, a bunch of us in the 2nd gaming group went down to San Antonio for "Oyster Bake". I'd never been to this before, but I had a blast. We sat near the country stage. I'm not as interested in country music, but the acts here were decent. Of course, this being called "Oyster Bake", I got a bucket of baked oysters. I'd never eaten oysters that way before, which included breaking open the shells. There were also funnel cakes, fried oysters, various meats on stick, corn, and chocolate covered strawberries. I ended up just eating funnel cakes and fried oysters other than the baked, but I thoroughly enjoyed those.

We are already planning to go again next year and making even a bigger trip of it.

Friday, April 18, 2008

Dungeon and Dragons session - Hellenika Campaign - Laptops don't work without power

Abbreviated notes from Friday since I didn't have the power cord to my laptop, and the battery doesn't last long.

The party identified magic items. They were taken to nice rooms and were allowed to recover. Boxo came and spoke with the party and explained that this entire "time caper" starting (as far as Boxo was concerned) with Boxo coming to retrieve their bodies was a plot by the council to help preserve Lendor and acquire Fred who will eventually become Lendor's replacement. He also described what his sentence was: being stripped of his powers and banished across time. The party realized that it would be in the past so that they would eventually meet him in the guise of "Timeos".

The party was brought before the council one more time and was made some offers. Gal was offered the position of Castallan (the previous one was exiled to the dwarven lands). She declined the offer. Then the entire party was offered the position of "field agents" for the council. However, they decided that they wanted to have nothing to do with the council and declined. The party then discussed where Boxo would take them.

Session ends.

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

So many games, so little time...

This post is going to meander a bit. However, I need to collect my thoughts, and I'm only comfortable talking about it when the whole world wide web is reading. :)

First of all, Steampunk Star Wars: THE RPG.

Those who have followed me, know that currently I'm involved in:
1. A Wednesday RPG group
2. A Friday Night RPG group
3. A 40k map campaign every other Sunday
4. Dance classes: East Coast Swing, West Coast Swing, Lindy Hop, and Two Step.

Of these, the Wednesday night D&D game is likely to become my turn, so the Hellenika updates will stop, and there will be Kalamar updates. Furthermore, I was looking at starting to run a Buffy the Vampire Slayer campaign for the Friday night group, although there is interest in this steampunk Star Wars idea.

This doesn't include: painting minis, social dancing, Warmachine, movies, going out to eat, reading, watching TV (hey, it's important!) and sleeping.

Things I want to do:
1. Babylon 5 game
2. Star Wars: Saga Edition game
3. UT Kendo classes

This is new territory for me. Its rather funny that with the crap going on in my life at the moment, I've been able to really connect and reconnect with friends and make new friends. However, I worry that I am running the risk of over-committing. I don't want anyone to feel like I'm brushing them off and hurting their feelings, as that is most assuredly not the case. Sadly, this means I will need to make some hard decisions and figure out what I can and cannot commit to.

I think I may be forced to leave the Bab 5 and Star Wars games back burnered for the time being and hope that my friends in those areas understand (and yes, I know they are reading this).

Oh, and "Ethereal Council", your Grey Knights are going DOWN! The corpses of my troops will stick to your shoes and you will be unable to move.....uhm....waitaminute.

Monday, April 14, 2008

40k Map Campaign

The Anger Sharks are participating in a map campaign.

Information on the first combats can be seen HERE.

In short, The Anger Sharks defeated a 250pt Combat patrol of Chaos Space Marines. I was a little worried, since I didn't have any tank killing troops and I was facing a Rhino. However, Krak grenades made short work of the thing.

Friday, April 11, 2008

Wednesday, April 9, 2008

Dungeon and Dragons session - Hellenika Campaign - The Battle in the Panopticon

Gal listens as the council grills Boxo. It very quickly becomes obvious that the trial is a farce and the council has already made up their minds. This continues for about a half hour. The party is summoned into the chamber. The Castellan again reminds the party of the rules to 'be civil'.

In the chambers, the 5 members of the council are sitting in their places much as they were previously. The party relays the story to date. When complete, the Castellan brings the party out of the chamber and are left in an anti-chamber.

The party is attacked. Two armoured female orcs move in to attack. Kerin leads off with a soundlance as the orcs cut into Tesla. Melee ensues as Tesla attempts to charm one of the orcs. Iridinae is struck by something unseen during the combat.

Kerin pulls out her brightly shining orb revealing a humanoid shadow in the corner. Gal turns into one of the "spider men" they'd fought on monster isle and fired webbing at the amazon orc. She becomes entangled in spider webbing.

Tesla casts a targeted dispel on the shadow (yay, a natural 17) but to no avail. The shadow swipes at Iridinae draining 3 points of strength. There is more muttering from next to Iridinae, but not from the shadow creature. Melee continues with Tesla then shooting a scorching ray at the amazon orc, burning off her webs. Iridinae is further drained of strength.

Gal soaks MASSIVE damage from an unseen assailant. Kerin attempts to turn the shadow, but it does not seem to have any effect. Gal manages to step back and heal herself using the wand. Tesla fires the scorching ray at the shadow and it is incredible weakened. The shadow flees through the wall. Gal is badly hit and shifts into an Ogre form. Tesla zaps the amazon orc, killing her. The shadow returns and attacks Kerin draining some of her strength.

Gal is hit by the invisible assailant, but her new form she shrugs off the damage. Kerin casts spiritual weapon which attacks the shadow causing it to dissipate. The unseen attacker screams in rage. Iridinae swings at the attacker but misses. Gal swings repeatedly and chops at the invisible attacker with her dagger. Tesla casts mage armour on Gal. Gal is hit rather hard. Kerin orders her spiritual weapon to attack the unseen assailant and heals Gal with an empowered cure spell.

Tesla casts voice of the dragon and using the suggestion effect, orders the invisible attack to "Become Visible". The female Castellan APPEARS and attempts to use a scroll. A critical hit from Gal causes the spell to fizzle. The spiritual weapon crits the Castellan as well. The female Castellan falls.

The party enters the chamber with the body of the Castellan. Boxo has just received his punishment. After a short argument with the council, the heroes suggest the council look at the timeline. They quickly discover that the Castellan(s) have indeed been plotting with each other and that the party was attacked.

The council apologizes for the inhospitality and asks where they would want to go. They are offered a place to stay in the meantime. They excuse themselves from the council chamber. They close the doors and loot the bodies.

Session ends...

Wednesday, April 2, 2008

Dungeon and Dragons session - Hellenika Campaign - The Hand of Fear

Sorry this posting is late – I zoned out.

The party continued to discuss how to prevent their past selves from killing Oromos. Boxo enlightens the group to the difficulties in the plan with regard to temporal mechanics. They decide to go back and put one of their souls into Oromos to prevent his attacking the group. Boxo says he will need a day or so to regain his strength. The party goes back to the palace and luxuriates in rooms.

Fred comes to them and talks with them. He tells them that he has some books that have information on vampires and that he is giving them a feast that evening. Kerin starts reading "The Adventures of Buffy the Vampire Slayer by Joss Whedon as told by Fred Jones". Tesla starts reading a book called "Sanford and Son". Gal examines some plant life to see if there are any ill effects of the "non-light".

That evening Fred throws a wonderful, lavish feast. The party retires for the evening.

That morning they are given a good breakfast. After meeting up with Boxo, the party prepares to go. Boxo tells them that the "time lag" will hit the outer dome and cancel it out, returning Fred-land to the normal "stream of events".

Kerin (having the highest Will save) is chosen to inhabit Oromos and control him.

Boxo takes the party into the time stream…



As they travel back they encounter “turbulence” which indicated where the time stream was altered. Boxo indicates this is the location and sends Kerin’s “soul” into Oromos. She encountered some difficulty with a desire for blood, but encounters the “past” instance of the party where she tells them to wait and do nothing.

The past party assents and is picked up by the past Boxo that dropped them off at that time.

The Boxo of the present brings Kerin of the present back and the party returns to Atlan. A much irritated Castellan (we realize it's the male version) greets them. The party finds they have been given permission to remain and provide evidence during the trial.

The Castellan escorts Boxo to the chambers for the trial and Gal leans up against the door to listen.

Session ends as I start to fall asleep...

Tuesday, April 1, 2008

Muppets!

I've always been fond of the Muppets. This is a blooper reel that is well worth it.


Here is some general info on the muppets.

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Dungeon and Dragons session - Hellenika Campaign - If only we had an Orb of Thesulah

The magical time freezing field continues to move outward. Tesla estimates that it will hit the outer edge of the dome in about a month. The party moves in and starts removing magic items from the wizard. Aside from normal magical items, he has a rod and an amulet that "hurts to look at" via detect magic.

The party also looks through his notes finding a myriad of notes regarding time theory. Gal continues to look for "secret storage". She finds a loose stone under one of the tables and when she slides it aside and something tries to bite her hand. There is a small weasel who appears to be the wizards familiar. Iridinae managed to calm the critter down.

Gal attempts to talk to the weasel. However, she quickly realizes that she cannot do it even though she is a druid. Iridinae takes the weasel, Kerin takes the wizard to the drunk tank, Gal takes Boxo to a medical ward, and Tesla takes the magic items.

Boxo wakes up and the party discusses the situation and brings Boxo up to speed on the situation. As part of the discussion, it is revealed that Gal's real name is Lendnel, and she was born "out of time". Boxo reveals that he arrived early in the party's home plane in order to find the party after they'd "messed up". He was nursed back to health by "Gloriana" who became Gal's mother. Boxo is Gal's father. This was when the Faerunian gods threatened Boxo. He left Gal with the elves after draining the infant Gal of chronal energy and traveled forward in time.

Boxo offers to take Gal back to "where-ever she wants to go" and not bother her with the "trial nonsense". Boxo says that the crystal contains a threat that the Castallan will have the party killed if they return.

During the discussion, Tesla gives the box that Stiggo's gave him to Boxo and tells him to open it. (This was the box with the note "When you realize you've made the biggest mistake in your life open this box") - it is a music box (King of Pain).

The party thinks about how to "re-ensoul" Oromos.

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Dungeon and Dragons session - Hellenika Campaign - Otto's Irresistible Profanity.

Fred shows the amazing inventions that the city has: 'hot air balloons' and 'cell phones'. Suddenly a call of "Watch out below" as a large flower pot falls down toward a young girl. Fred gestures and the flower pot stops in mid air. Fred explains that everyone has some chronal energy but that his seems to be slightly stronger.

The party arrives as the area where Boxo is imprisoned. They see that there are a great many things that have been thrown into the time field. Gal touches the field with the crystal and freezes with Kerin in time. Everything within the field starts moving and the wizard starts to cast. Bearded Devils appear and start attacking. Gal and Kerin unfreeze and Iridinae freezes as the devils start attacking. Kerin casts silence on the wizard. Tesla moves forward into the stasis. The devils and the wizard press their attack and Kerin drops. Tesla unfreezes and attempts to cast a charm on the wizard and fails, cursing.

Gal attempts to throw the crystal at the globe where Boxo is imprisoned, but misses. Iridinae moves up and gets hit repeatedly by the demons. Iridinae goes defensive. Tesla casts dispel and the devils vanish.

The wizard continues to cast and then realizes that the spell didn't go off and curses. Gal heals Kerin who continues to take damage, cursing. The brilliant and handsome Tesla casts obscuring mist allowing Kerin to heal herself.

After Kerin has healed herself, Tesla dispels the obscuring mist to see that Iridinae has frozen and the wizard is looking at the crystal that Gal tossed. Gal uses the dispel crystal that Lendor had given her which removes all negative magical effects. Iridinae leaps in to grapple. Tesla moves forward and casts a dispel at the wizard but it is dispelled (it appears the wizard had a ring of counterspelling with a dispel in it). The wizard attempts to cast but the spell fizzle and he curses again.

Gal attempts to get the crystal from the wizard but fails with a curse. Tesla attempts to dispel again and a number of spells drop. Kerin casts Righteous Wrath of the Faithful. Gal manages to get the crystal away from the wizard and moves toward the sphere with Boxo. Iridinae continues to grapple.

Gal touches the crystal to the globe containing Boxo and the globe dispels. The wizard again curses as Iridinae continues to grapple. Another dispel from Tesla fails to bring down any more spells (@#$%^&*!!!!). Kerin casts but fails to defeat the wizard's spell resistance. Iridinae enjoys grappling.

Gal heals Boxo, but he doesn't wake up. The wizard finally slumps. The party ties up the wizard.

Session ends.

Monday, March 10, 2008

A metaphysical reboot

Yes, there has been a reason that posting has been erratic in the past month or so. I don't know if posting will ever go back to normal, but then again, that remains to be seen.

With my life encountering an 'unrecoverable error' causing it to be shut down, I find myself needing to redefine myself to an extent. So bearing this in mind, I believe I need to find other things to do than just sitting at home or gaming, as fun as that is. I did have a hell of a lot of fun in the Warmachine tournament yesterday.

What shall I do? Well, I have a few things in mind

Dance: A friend of mine gave me dance lessons for two for Christmas. Well, I have custody of that gift cert, so I think I'm going to give that a shot. People who know me know I have almost no physical coordination and this may be a good choice. I've wanted to try swing dancing (after all, Benny Goodman IS dance music!). For that matter, salsa and two-step would be decent to learn as well. Finally, of course, I could use the exercise.

Kendo: Ever since I saw a certain little sci-fi movie in 1978, I've wanted to know how to fight with a sword. There is also a certain appeal to hitting someone with a bamboo stick. Again, we have the whole exercise thing here. There is a place I can do that locally.

There will probably be other things that will come up. I find a number of things in my life got away from me in the past, for better or worse, and now I wonder, what do I do?

Tuesday, March 4, 2008

Gary Gygax RIP

I just found out that the father of Dungeons and Dragons and cofounder of TSR, Gary Gygax has died.

News Link


*Update*
Wizards of the Coast Tribute

CNN Link

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Monday, February 25, 2008

The Butcher of Khador

I played a couple rounds of Warmachine on Saturday. I'd picked up the update deck for Khador (to ensure I had recent stats for my army) and decided to give "The Butcher" a try. I have that model kicking around in the hold somewhere, but can locate it. I decided since I have the card, I'd proxy and give him a try.

Wow...just...wow.

There is discussion that I may have made a mistake on the rules for him, but I've yet to be cited a page disputing it. Using his feat and spells, I was able to orchestrate my army to neutralize my opponent rather quickly with a MASSIVE amount of damage. He has a feat where for 1 round, I can add a die to my damage for everyone in his control area. Then I cast a spell that doubled his strength. Combine that with a charge and WOW.

The hard part was trying to get my troops set up for the battle. Certain armies I'll do better than others. The drawback to the Butcher is that while he can defend HIMSELF, I can't easily extend that defense to my Warjacks like I can with Vlad and Sorscha.

ANYWAY, he's pretty badass.

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Happy Birthday to...

(In no particular order)
Benecio Del Toro - actor
Sunset Thomas - porn star
Falco - Rock me Amedeus
Tony Iommi - Guitar player for Black Sabbath
Justine Bateman - Actress
Francine - Wrestler
Seal - Singer
Smokey Robinson - Singer
Jeff Daniels - Actor
Amy Tan - wrote Joy Luck Club

me

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Dungeon and Dragons session - Hellenika Campaign - 'Stick up her ass!?!?!'

The party returned to the port of Lisbona. They did some buying and selling of wares before turning to the issue at hand - rescuing Boxo from the time bubble. We also got horses. (Tesla's War Pony is named "Phil").

The party "jumps".

And are suddenly granted the sensation of slamming into a brick wall. When they open their eyes, they discover that they are surrounded by armed men. They look around to see that there is a "void" around Konoa. The armed men indicate it has a radius of approximately 1000 miles.

After some research we realize that this is a dome. Experiments show that there is some weird differential of some type. The soldiers indicate that they'd sent one in for a few moments who came back aged 50 years older. Tests demonstrate that the time is flowing faster in the bubble than outside.

Kerin rides off and finds a forest which the dome has cleared through.

The party goes to talk to Jubal. The crystal demonstrates that he is "charged" with chronal energy. Much to the party's surprise, he knows what Chronal energy is. He tells the party that the people on the other side of the bubble (including the King). Jubal further tells the party that the "King Fred" had sent him back to wait for them.

Fred told Jubal to "Come on in, the water's fine. He's waiting for you."

"Don't linger in the area of the barrier." Jubal tells of the time when the Chronal sliders came in and created this "barrier". The party decides to head in the next day.

After a good night sleep, the party saddles up and heads in.

The area inside the bubble, the land continues, but there is no sun. The party sees a smaller house with a chimney with smoke. They approach.

Apparently, the party is famous. The people at the outpost quickly pull out a description of the party. "The priestess with the stick up her ass, the girly elf, the girl that looks like she was beaten with an ugly stick, and the smoking hot chick."

Using a teleportation circle, the party transports into a small locked room. Tesla unlocked the door using the wand of knock that his brilliant forethought told him to purchase in Lisbona. The party is greeted by a much dismayed guard who apparently has never seen horses.

Ten minutes later, the guard returns with a couple other people. He takes the party to see the king. The castle contains many interesting wonders like "moving stairs".

The King is indeed Fred, who only seems to have aged about 6 years. In fact, it's been approximately 100 years. The party heads to where Boxo has been imprisoned all this time.

Session ends.

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Technical Difficulties

There is nothing like coming home to a system that is No-Post due to HDD controller failure. Yes, I have backups, but I'd still like to get a more recent backup. Things I can definitely say are helpful...
  • Disk Imaging Software (Acronis, Ghost)
  • Knoppix
So this morning, we are clearing off space to put a secondary drive into primary service while the offending HDD is in the freezer in hopes of JUST ONE MORE BOOT.

*sigh*

Friday, February 8, 2008

Guitar Rising

The crew of the Pequod is not know for it's console gaming chops.

I bought a PS2 a while back for Dance Dance Revolution and not much else. Even that ends up being somewhat "meh" after a while. However, there is a NEW game on the horizon that has grabbed my attention. If I knew the console this was for, I'd preemptively buy it.

Guitar Rising...


I've worked at trying to get better at guitar. I enjoyed playing but I always ran into the limitation of the limits of my manual dexterity. I was usually OK at finding the note I wanted...but just some of the manual gyrations were a bit tricky.

Now, admittedly, this game is likely to have some flaws for the person using it as a "springboard". The other half of learning modern guitar is learning ear training and transcription.

That being said, I applaud the makers of this and I am planning on giving it a heavy look when it comes out.

Official site
Gizmodo article about it

Thursday, February 7, 2008

One more song

As bad as all of this is...it will be all right.



Comments are enabled for this post.

However, I am not going to discuss the events of the past 6 days. I'd ask that the talk-backers who are in the know not discuss them either. I'd like to keep my personal life, personal.



P.S. Hear more about this song.

Wednesday, February 6, 2008