Okay, it's not that bad. My wife did under go surgery this last weekend, and after much weeping, wailing, gnashing of teeth, threats, and other misbehavin' I managed to get the time off to sit with her. I don't think I've ever had to pull so many kryat dragon's teeth before in my life. And all just to be with my wife while she got half of her thyroid removed. What's worse is the Doctors were all pretty sure that she had cancer. This is me, thanking the good Lord, (Allah, Buddha, and who ever else may intervene on behalf of the poor and downtrodden) every morning that it turned out to not be cancer.
My beautiful wife now sports the coolest scar on her neck right now, though. All she needs to do is powder up and she can be a zombie for Halloween. That, or I'm pushing for a female version of the Kurgan. Hehehe... considering the fact that I once all but got a degree in ancient history and civilization just to run a Highlander campaign through a 5000 year period, it's pretty darn cool.
Ah, now there was a cool homemade game. I don't know how many of you have ever played the old White Wolf World of Darkness game. I loved the old stuff. There are times I still pine for the old game rules. The new stuff... I'm not too into it. I think the whole "Let's end the world, and restart it, the same, but far more disturbed, twisted, and less fluid" attitude kind of turned me off. I know, I know... the world must be ending, because I got turned off from a role-playing game. Well, it's true. Sad, isn't it? The man who used to play everyday of the week at the White Wolf website (www.white-wolf.com), almost religiously, now no longer plays the game. Maybe it's because it became to hope-less. Maybe it's because it's just not as well crafted for a background as it once was. Maybe it's because there's no more Mokolé. Actually... that last one may be a major reason. You don't play Grant Tyr on the WW's WoD chat RPG rooms for years and years, and don't expect to have some attachment to the little group of were-crocs.
I've looked over the newer rules and I've been tempted to sit down one day and do an updated WoD system Highlander rules. The original rules were great. I've been debating on more than one occasion to sit down and start writing up an update for the rules. I just really don't have the time. I barely have the time to work on this blog, homework, married life, gaming and work. Though, one never knows, maybe someday I'll get off my duff and spend the sleepless hours working on that personal holy grail. Hopefully that will happen before the next Highlander movie (which will either save of kill the franchise). If I ever do, I'll probably announce it here, first (Right after I tell my wife, which means she'll giggle and jump for joy. I'm such a lucky fella.)
So, I've been looking through the Dragon Magic and Complete Mage books. Personally, I think they're must-haves for any DM. Dragon Magic has some really good crunch to it. I'm reading through it right now, going through the materials in there in depth. There are a few things I'm not overly keen on, though. I really don't see the point behind the "dragonblooded" race diversifications. Honestly, I don't think there a need for another sub-group for each of the races. Also, anyone who gets Dragon magazine regularly will notice that more than a few things have just been reprinted. I think that's great. I don't have to go digging through my stacks of back issues to find it anymore. I do wish there was a few more original ideas, though. I love the idea of the dragon pact, and the dragonfire adept. Both very interesting concepts, and many feats, spells, and concepts that I plan on taking advantage of. Even the Prestige Classes (I just see Bob shivering) make sense in this book! Of course, there's going to be dragon specific prestige classes, and the PrCs in this book are very nice, indeed.
Complete Mage, on the other hand, has a ton of new stuff. The Feats made me drool. The Spells and items gave me ideas. The Character options, background ideas, campaign lead ins... all nice and mildly crunchy. The Prestige Classes seemed to fall a little flat for me, though. I don't know, I like the Warlock class... I just wasn't expecting a slew of PrCs meant just for that class. If that was the case, why not just call this book the Complete Warlock? Other than that, I like this book a lot as well. I have plans for this book.
Now... if only I can get my hands on a copy of Expedition to Castle Ravenloft... mwhahahah...
I'm in the planning stages of continuing the young dragon D&D game I run occasionally, but I am finding myself with more and more a hankering for either Serenity, or a d20 Future game. It's an odd state to be in right now. All in all, though, I need to be good, patient, not buy nuffin', and wait for my hunners to get feelin' better. I don't think anyone knows how much I watch her surgery, just to make sure NOTHING out of the ordinary happens. I guess the side effect of having a family member pass because of a "routine" procedure.
Until next time, faith, hope, love, charity, and an ample supply ofammunitionn...
Wednesday, October 25, 2006
Wednesday, October 11, 2006
Burn the Land and Boil the Sea
You can't take the sky from me!
A lovely song, isn't it? I love singing the Ballad of Serenity on my way home from work. I find it saturates sometimes. In these times where it's very possible that a crazy little North Korean may very well start World War Three because he's just that attention starved, it's nice to have a little ditty that can lift you past the worries of the world. Now we aren't even sure if he really set off a nuke, and if he didn't just bury a whole bunch of firecrackers in the dirt. Then we have the tragedy of Chris Lidle. I think I was one of a hundred million people out there who's first thought, sadly, was terrorist. The straw of it all, though, is it's not even Halloween yet, and KMart's set up it's Christmas decorations. I've come to two realizations this week.
First: If something doesn't change soon, Earth That Is will become Earth That Was, right quick. I say this not to be a Doomsayer, nor sermonize, preachify and prophisize. I say this more as a matter of fact. It's just a natural consequence of the foolishness the world's leaders continue to follow.
Second: The only thing I can really control is my own life.
I think that's why I'm such a gaming freak. I get a chance to determine the outcome of "kingdoms", "realms", "empires", and "alliances", all in a nice little safe environment. Much like story tellers of old, I weave a tale of mystery, magic, and heroism. At the very least, I hope I do. I also get to play pretty fairly often. The gaming group I'm with is a great group, my favorite group of gamers to be exact. It's the most intelligent group of player I've ever had the chance to game with. Each gaming session is enjoyable. It's also fun just to hang out, without games. Not many groups I know that are like that.
There are many things that one learns through out life. In my case, I learned today that I am really, really, really bad about my little OCD towards gaming when I'm not on my happy brain meds. Hehehehe...
I just finished reading the end of the story for The Battle at the Tomb, for L5R. I'm a little disappointed in some things that seem to of occurred, but happy about other aspects to things. I love Legends of the Five Rings. It's a great game. The ever changing and evolving storyline is one of my favorite environments to read, game, and collect. The writers that they have are great. I will admit, being a Crab-Scorpion-Shadowlands-Crane (In that order.) player (Hey, why did you Rokugani followers all just shiver?) I found the current storyline interesting. I love the idea of noble sacrifice from heroes. Not too keen though that all my favorite characters keep getting whacked (zotched, killed).
My only complaint about L5R right now, is the RPG stuff is a little low right now. I'm not too sure how the new rules covers the old d20 stuff. There were some things that were converted on the website. But then again, there were some things that weren't converted.
Right now, my wife is running a great L5R game. It's fun. I'm currently playing the Scorpion duelist in the group, and a good friend is playing the former Phoenix Clan void shugenja, who is now married to my duelist. She's is doing great.
The Scene: Following the villains, the group is stuck in the midst of a blizzard. The only shugenja in the group hears the complaints of the snow maiden complaining about the rude behaviors of the villains.
The Resolution: Innocently, the shugenja offers the snow maiden some approriate services, and also sells out our Kituski magistrate (who is the most pure in heart) to the snow maid. Now, the poor little Dragon is being followed around by a ice spirit who's interested in having her heart warmed. It is official, she is no longer Phoenix. Mwahahaha....
You have to admit, that's pretty fun. It's great to have situations like that on a regular basis.
Another thing I'd like to mention, as it's Monday now, is Heroes! If you have not watched this show, and you read my Blog, then you are a false geek, and possibly a government agent. Hmm...
Mat's personal opinion... I think I agree with the theory my friend, Bob, suggested, that the stripper is the Hulk-like character. I'm just a little concerned if she changes form. I'm also scared that the alternate mentality seems smarter than the primary.
Well, I think that's all for today. I've actually been working on this post for almost a week. I think the plan is to try to be more up on this in the future.
Check you all later.
A lovely song, isn't it? I love singing the Ballad of Serenity on my way home from work. I find it saturates sometimes. In these times where it's very possible that a crazy little North Korean may very well start World War Three because he's just that attention starved, it's nice to have a little ditty that can lift you past the worries of the world. Now we aren't even sure if he really set off a nuke, and if he didn't just bury a whole bunch of firecrackers in the dirt. Then we have the tragedy of Chris Lidle. I think I was one of a hundred million people out there who's first thought, sadly, was terrorist. The straw of it all, though, is it's not even Halloween yet, and KMart's set up it's Christmas decorations. I've come to two realizations this week.
First: If something doesn't change soon, Earth That Is will become Earth That Was, right quick. I say this not to be a Doomsayer, nor sermonize, preachify and prophisize. I say this more as a matter of fact. It's just a natural consequence of the foolishness the world's leaders continue to follow.
Second: The only thing I can really control is my own life.
I think that's why I'm such a gaming freak. I get a chance to determine the outcome of "kingdoms", "realms", "empires", and "alliances", all in a nice little safe environment. Much like story tellers of old, I weave a tale of mystery, magic, and heroism. At the very least, I hope I do. I also get to play pretty fairly often. The gaming group I'm with is a great group, my favorite group of gamers to be exact. It's the most intelligent group of player I've ever had the chance to game with. Each gaming session is enjoyable. It's also fun just to hang out, without games. Not many groups I know that are like that.
There are many things that one learns through out life. In my case, I learned today that I am really, really, really bad about my little OCD towards gaming when I'm not on my happy brain meds. Hehehehe...
I just finished reading the end of the story for The Battle at the Tomb, for L5R. I'm a little disappointed in some things that seem to of occurred, but happy about other aspects to things. I love Legends of the Five Rings. It's a great game. The ever changing and evolving storyline is one of my favorite environments to read, game, and collect. The writers that they have are great. I will admit, being a Crab-Scorpion-Shadowlands-Crane (In that order.) player (Hey, why did you Rokugani followers all just shiver?) I found the current storyline interesting. I love the idea of noble sacrifice from heroes. Not too keen though that all my favorite characters keep getting whacked (zotched, killed).
My only complaint about L5R right now, is the RPG stuff is a little low right now. I'm not too sure how the new rules covers the old d20 stuff. There were some things that were converted on the website. But then again, there were some things that weren't converted.
Right now, my wife is running a great L5R game. It's fun. I'm currently playing the Scorpion duelist in the group, and a good friend is playing the former Phoenix Clan void shugenja, who is now married to my duelist. She's is doing great.
The Scene: Following the villains, the group is stuck in the midst of a blizzard. The only shugenja in the group hears the complaints of the snow maiden complaining about the rude behaviors of the villains.
The Resolution: Innocently, the shugenja offers the snow maiden some approriate services, and also sells out our Kituski magistrate (who is the most pure in heart) to the snow maid. Now, the poor little Dragon is being followed around by a ice spirit who's interested in having her heart warmed. It is official, she is no longer Phoenix. Mwahahaha....
You have to admit, that's pretty fun. It's great to have situations like that on a regular basis.
Another thing I'd like to mention, as it's Monday now, is Heroes! If you have not watched this show, and you read my Blog, then you are a false geek, and possibly a government agent. Hmm...
Mat's personal opinion... I think I agree with the theory my friend, Bob, suggested, that the stripper is the Hulk-like character. I'm just a little concerned if she changes form. I'm also scared that the alternate mentality seems smarter than the primary.
Well, I think that's all for today. I've actually been working on this post for almost a week. I think the plan is to try to be more up on this in the future.
Check you all later.
Monday, October 09, 2006
Insanity: it's no longer just a disease, it's a lifestyle choice.
These last few weeks have kind of been a whirlwind of stress, stress and more stress. Worldwide: we have men walking into schools, killing students. We have religious groups wanting to protest the funerals of little girls. We have government officials predating on congressional pages, and other officials turning a blind eye. This morning, we now have a little North Korean man jumping up and down screaming, "Look at me! Look at me! I'm dangerous, too!" as his men test a weapon that, in all honesty, no one has a right to make, much less use. It's a crazy world my friends. I think it's all a bunch of stupidity if you ask me. I am of the very serious opinion that far too many people are thinking with far too little of their brains. The running theory is we use about 10% of our brain capacity. I propose that mankind (or at least the ones running things) is running on something closer to 1.25% interest (The .25% is because I'm a generous type fella).
Closer to home, my wife is going into the hospital in about two weeks, for surgery. If that's not stressful enough, my employers have decided that I've missed too much time taking care of her, that if I take time off to be with her, that I'll lose my job. Understandably, neither my wife, nor I, are overly enthused by the deep caring and consideration that my employer has during this trying time. All this admist further craziness that is anyone's life in this 21st century.
Is it any wonder that my wife and I spend so much time playing in our own little world, to forget the real one? I have a few more escapes, I think, than my wife does, though. I'm hooked on a number of online comics, artists, and such, that help keep my mind sane enough to deal with the inane ignorance of the world.
Now, for me, it's all about story, story, story, art, and humor. I hate anything that can't look at itself and chuckle, guffaw, or snicker, at the very least. The big thing, though, as you may of noticed, is story. If I can't care about what happens to the characters, I can't care about the comic, story, game, etc. Here's a few of my favorite little escapes to start you off, if there's any you think I'd like, let me know, I'll check'em out, and let you know what I think.
Inverloch- (www.seraph-inn.com)- A beautiful story with beautiful art, this has got to be one of the artistic creme de la creme, and the story's well done too. I love the characters, the concept, and how it's all evolving. It's a pretty close to living storyline. I love it. There's also enough light heartedness to keep me smiling. The romantic aspect is sweet, and I can't wait for certain characters to hook up. If you read it, you know what I'm talkin' about. If not... well then... read it from th beginning. That's where all good stories have to start, and where most end.
Applegeeks- (www.applegeeks.com)- Speaking of evolution, like the difference between a Powerbook and a IIe, Applegeeks is a comic that has metamorphosed into something truly Gunn toating. What started as a comedic web strip has become an interesting sci-fi storyline, complete with light-heartedness still included. I enjoy every day this comic is updated. Hawke and Ananth are genius. Also, don't forget to scroll down and take a gander at Applegeeks-lite.
Mega-Tokyo- (www.megatokyo.com)- Okay... sometimes there are coolness to the extreme, then there are those cool things that are cool but you don't know if you should admit to the rest of the world that they are cool, or that you think they are cool. Fortunately, Mega-Tokyo isn't one of these kind of things. Sure, it's mostly about Piro's misadventures in love, but come on... there's Boo!!!!! (Yes, Boo from Balder's Gate, he's a substitute conscious... Go for the eyes, Boo! The eyes!!!) This is where I first actually began to understand that oft misunderstood tongue of L33T. (To be honest, I'm surprised no one's made a push to have that taught is class. Honestly, if Ebonics can be taught...) Hmm... rambling again. Anyways, this is a great comic, done in classic black and white. Good characters, good writing, good story, and great art. This is where I got the idea to raise my hand in class during Computer Building 101 and ask, " So... it's best if we just start working on these naked, right?" I think I almost caused my poor lab partner to pass out. I am not a small boy.
Those, mi amigos, are my TOP THREE favorite webcomics in general. There are others that I frequent, but I think I'll mention them another time. This is as good a place to start as any.
Now... in regards to gaming. There are a number of interesting little products out there that get my little mental gears aspinnin'. Right now the top one is Dragon Magic for D&D. Now, I don't own this book just yet, and the best view I've gotten of it has been stolen glances in the gaming store, but from what I've seen, I'm intrigued. There's just not been enough dragon-specific stuff lately. My friend, Bob, would probably weep and wail and gnash his teeth, because of the fact that there's even more prestige classes. On the other hand, I've gone for two VERY GOOD Forgotten Realms sourcebooks without a single prestige class in either. WotC is learning.
If you haven't read Dragons of Faerun, you really should. It's a great update for the Realms. Also, if you're a DM, it's a great source of material for nasty little things to bring into your game. Three dragons are also finally "officially" updated to 3.5, and there's a note to update the dragons mentioned in Monsters of Faerun, written way back in days of (3.0) yore. All in all, a pretty sweet book. At least that's my opinion.
Well, that's how I see things right now. Cats and dogs living together in the streets is just around the corner. I'm just waiting for Vigo to show up in Manhattan, then I'll know the apocalypse is at hand. (That or for the next presiditial canidate to come to his (or her) inauguration atop a pale horse.)
Closer to home, my wife is going into the hospital in about two weeks, for surgery. If that's not stressful enough, my employers have decided that I've missed too much time taking care of her, that if I take time off to be with her, that I'll lose my job. Understandably, neither my wife, nor I, are overly enthused by the deep caring and consideration that my employer has during this trying time. All this admist further craziness that is anyone's life in this 21st century.
Is it any wonder that my wife and I spend so much time playing in our own little world, to forget the real one? I have a few more escapes, I think, than my wife does, though. I'm hooked on a number of online comics, artists, and such, that help keep my mind sane enough to deal with the inane ignorance of the world.
Now, for me, it's all about story, story, story, art, and humor. I hate anything that can't look at itself and chuckle, guffaw, or snicker, at the very least. The big thing, though, as you may of noticed, is story. If I can't care about what happens to the characters, I can't care about the comic, story, game, etc. Here's a few of my favorite little escapes to start you off, if there's any you think I'd like, let me know, I'll check'em out, and let you know what I think.
Inverloch- (www.seraph-inn.com)- A beautiful story with beautiful art, this has got to be one of the artistic creme de la creme, and the story's well done too. I love the characters, the concept, and how it's all evolving. It's a pretty close to living storyline. I love it. There's also enough light heartedness to keep me smiling. The romantic aspect is sweet, and I can't wait for certain characters to hook up. If you read it, you know what I'm talkin' about. If not... well then... read it from th beginning. That's where all good stories have to start, and where most end.
Applegeeks- (www.applegeeks.com)- Speaking of evolution, like the difference between a Powerbook and a IIe, Applegeeks is a comic that has metamorphosed into something truly Gunn toating. What started as a comedic web strip has become an interesting sci-fi storyline, complete with light-heartedness still included. I enjoy every day this comic is updated. Hawke and Ananth are genius. Also, don't forget to scroll down and take a gander at Applegeeks-lite.
Mega-Tokyo- (www.megatokyo.com)- Okay... sometimes there are coolness to the extreme, then there are those cool things that are cool but you don't know if you should admit to the rest of the world that they are cool, or that you think they are cool. Fortunately, Mega-Tokyo isn't one of these kind of things. Sure, it's mostly about Piro's misadventures in love, but come on... there's Boo!!!!! (Yes, Boo from Balder's Gate, he's a substitute conscious... Go for the eyes, Boo! The eyes!!!) This is where I first actually began to understand that oft misunderstood tongue of L33T. (To be honest, I'm surprised no one's made a push to have that taught is class. Honestly, if Ebonics can be taught...) Hmm... rambling again. Anyways, this is a great comic, done in classic black and white. Good characters, good writing, good story, and great art. This is where I got the idea to raise my hand in class during Computer Building 101 and ask, " So... it's best if we just start working on these naked, right?" I think I almost caused my poor lab partner to pass out. I am not a small boy.
Those, mi amigos, are my TOP THREE favorite webcomics in general. There are others that I frequent, but I think I'll mention them another time. This is as good a place to start as any.
Now... in regards to gaming. There are a number of interesting little products out there that get my little mental gears aspinnin'. Right now the top one is Dragon Magic for D&D. Now, I don't own this book just yet, and the best view I've gotten of it has been stolen glances in the gaming store, but from what I've seen, I'm intrigued. There's just not been enough dragon-specific stuff lately. My friend, Bob, would probably weep and wail and gnash his teeth, because of the fact that there's even more prestige classes. On the other hand, I've gone for two VERY GOOD Forgotten Realms sourcebooks without a single prestige class in either. WotC is learning.
If you haven't read Dragons of Faerun, you really should. It's a great update for the Realms. Also, if you're a DM, it's a great source of material for nasty little things to bring into your game. Three dragons are also finally "officially" updated to 3.5, and there's a note to update the dragons mentioned in Monsters of Faerun, written way back in days of (3.0) yore. All in all, a pretty sweet book. At least that's my opinion.
Well, that's how I see things right now. Cats and dogs living together in the streets is just around the corner. I'm just waiting for Vigo to show up in Manhattan, then I'll know the apocalypse is at hand. (That or for the next presiditial canidate to come to his (or her) inauguration atop a pale horse.)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)