The Future Soon!

Only about 1/3 of the books moved to the "ready room"

The beautiful Mrs. and I have finally achieved the "American Dream". We are signing on a home very soon. We will be moving across the Valley to our new abode in the month of November. So, with the move comes a lot of things. One of them is pain. Packing boxes, then moving them into the room that we're keeping all the "packed" materials is not conducive to a happy back, especially when your herniated disk tells you that you should have stopped ten minutes ago.

 The other thing that happens to me is ideas. I always seem to get ideas for running games during these times.  It could possibly be due to the amount of books I move, stack, or rediscover. Another possible cause is the fact that I'm getting the basement family room to makeover into my "mancave" and gaming room. I want to run a game, but I'm torn what to run. Here are what I'm thinking:
  
Idea the First
This one is somewhat short and simple, continue running the Pathfinder Adventure Path: Kingmaker.   My only concern about this one is the distance some people will need to travel. Also, there's a number of people that I want to invite to gaming. I've not had too much success with adding new players after a game has started. So, this idea has some possible draw and drawbacks. It's not an original idea, though, and that makes it easier for me to run. Heck, I'm going to include in this the idea of running any Adventure Path.

As a whole, I love the Adventure Paths that Paizo makes. I don't think I've seen an idea come out of the Paths that I haven't enjoyed. They make running a campaign much much easier. I want to keep this as a possibility.

I'm including into this one the fact that, after the first of the year, there's a new Adventure Path being released, called Reign of Winter. It's a rescue mission to save Baba Yaga, and with the wife's love of Russian Mythology and traditions, she's chomping at the bit to have me run this. It's possible I may end up running two games. One week one thing, the next week the other game.

 Idea the Second
I have a lot of the Original World of Darkness books. My wife just signed up for the Werewolf 20th Anniversary Kickstarter. This has caused me to remember the many enjoyable times I've had running the WoD. This is really the setting where I cut my DM/GM/Storyteller teeth. Because to that I'm really considering running a Werewolf the Apocalypse game.

Work in Progress: The Tribes Assembled, Artist: Steve Prescott

My current premise is to have a caern located up one of the nearby Utah Canyons. Of course, if there's enough interest on this one, I can really have some fun. Salt Lake City by Night. Rage Across the Uintas. I am currently seeing the possibility of Children of Gaia, Glass Walkers, Bone Gnawers, some other Garou tribes, trying to deal with encroaching Vampires, a wanna-be Hogwarts, evil Wyrm corporations, and the "Nephite Priesthood" returning in strength.Mormons and the supernatural, it's like a potential Reese's Peanut Butter Cup of Awesome.

Idea the Third
I also have a lot of Forgotten Realms books. This has spurred another possible idea.I would run this with Pathfinder, the reason for this would be multitude, but a good portion of that reason is it's one of the systems I'm most comfortable with. (I'm tempted to launch into my 4e tirade, but I will withhold.) Another reason that I'm thinking of going with Pathfinder is because the setting is designed to be different than the "modern" Forgotten Realms setting.

The idea for the game is that it takes place during the Golden Age of Netheril, before the Folly of Karsus. Magic is far more prolific, and even a bit different. The weave is strong and there are many nations creating great and powerful magics. This game would be the protection of Netheril with the possible creation of a frontier town. I want to have a more Roman era feel to this, in a way. Netheril was impressive, but they also had a lot of flaws. This is an idea that I would very much like to do in an Epic Fashion. If I were to run this, I'm pretty sure this could be the "long term game" I've been kind of wanting to run for a while.

Idea the Fourth
Among the many hidden treasures I've found has been the binder that Ang put together many years ago that have the core rules and the Player's Guide for Highlander: The Immortals. For those that don't know, a while back there were tons of "fan-based" rules being put out there for the World of Darkness. One of the most popular of these was the Highlander rules. I've run a Highlander game a number of times, and except for the time one player refused to accept the rolls of the Storyteller, I've had fun and good success with them. I think this is another game I could run, though I don't know how long term I could run this.

Idea the Fifth
I just got my copy of the Marvel: Heroic Roleplaying rule book. I'm really glad, because it's a genre of game that I've been wanting to run for a long time. It's also helped with an idea I've had for a while. I want to run a game where the main characters, the protagonists, all wake up with their superpowers. The game would consist of them going out, fighting bad guys, but also trying to figure out where their powers come from, why they have them, and what will the do once they find out. The thoughts behind this is Superheroes with a dash of Lovecraftian goodness to make things really interesting. One of the "scenes" I've had in mind has the group attacked by Doom-bots, with Dr. Doom attempting to test them... not for the reasons they would expect.

This idea has a lot of potential for some really good roleplaying, as well as a lot of fun. Also, this would be another "long term" idea.

Idea the Sixth
Robotech has been another game that I have a long history with. One of the many things I like about Palladium books is the fact that all of their games all follow the same rule set. I'm able to include stuff from Rifts and some of the other games Palladium's done.

The idea for this one would be a Expeditionary Force Marine team sent to Earth between the two main attempts to reclaim the planet from the Invid.The team's mission is a search and recovery one, though. Since the Robotech Masters and Southern Cross were aware that the Invid might attack, there was a rush to attempt to engineer weapons that could defend the planet from the forth coming invasion. Unfortnately, the Invid attacked far soon than expected. The prototypes of these weapons are lost, buried in rubble, or possibly even stolen by bandits and raiders. The team is to try to contact four known "skunkworks" locations, and then meet up with the main force with any resources they have managed to acquire along the way.

So, those are the ideas I currently have for games I want to run at the new house. I'm not sure which one I'm going to go with. If people think one would be cooler than the others, please, let me know.

Normal Nightmares?

You know, to be honest, I'm not really sure what a normal nightmare is. It's rare that I even have them, honestly. I'm not great at it but, most of the time when a nightmare starts, I'm pretty good at pulling a little lucid dreaming and change things around. The other night, though, I had one that for some reason has been sticking with me. Of course, it's a dream, so I'm sure that it's been influenced by a hundred and one other things that have been going through my head.

It started with a mine digging deep into the earth. Digging a new shaft, the miners uncover a wall. Not just thick rock, but an actual constructed wall of dense stones, it's covered in odd complex patterns, but nothing that is close to being recognized as a language. The order is given by the owner of the mine to destroy the wall and any evidence of it, since it would cause the entire mine to be shut down while archeologist would try to figure out what it was.  When the wall is broken, a green mist escapes, enveloping the first of the miner's. From there, the mist spreads, and then dissipates quickly into the bodies of the terrified workers. Within minutes, the infected are attacking everyone in sight.

From there the dream becomes a "zombie apocalypse" kind of dream, with a group of survivors and "uninfected" holding out in a nearby school gym. I still remember the sounds of the "zombies" running across the roof, the weight of the makeshift maul being used as a weapon, waiting for the end.

The thing I found most interesting was that the zombies virus wasn't really a virus. It was actually a quickly replicating cluster of nanobots. The initial hive begins as an airborne swarm. Once it enters a suitable host, though, it becomes blood-born. It's passed via bite, the mouth of the zombie becoming akin to a komodo dragons, only filled with the nanobots instead of bacteria.

Once the nanobots enter a victims bloodstream, they quickly begin replicating and attacking/rewiring the neurosystem of the new host. In the end, the victim's neurological pathways, including the brain, are converted, killing the host, but allowing the body to continue to move, driving towards more victims. In time, the nanobots begin to adapt to their new bodies, the more nanobots in a body, the more cunning they become. Unfortunately, the body cannot maintain it's state for a prolonged amount of time, thus the process of decay begins in a host. Also, attempts to nourish the body compel the nanobots to attempt to feed the body in an attempt to maintain the body, but since the body is dead, all attempts to provide substance fail, in grisly fashion.

That's the idea I've had stuck in my head lately. Not sure what else I could say or do about it, but I think it's kind of interesting.

Naming a Time Lord

So, the idea came to me, as ideas often do, in a total random timey-wimey sort of way. Actually, it was because my Wife and I are considering dressing up as the Doctor and Donna for Halloween. It caused me reminisce from days of yore, when I was a kid watching Tom Baker, his companions, incredibly long scarf, and jelly babies outwit a number of foes while I visited my Grandma Daley. During those days, before I found out about things like Role Playing games and video games were played on an Atari or Commodore 64, I often had imagining about putting myself into the shows and stories I read.

When it came to Doctor Who, I was fascinated by the idea of an entire society of time travelers. The new series has been a wonderful treat. My only disappointment is the fact that the Time Lords are, as a whole, gone. The Doctor is the last Time Lord. Well... except for the Master. Oh, and the ones that asteroid/moon thing ate in "The Doctor's Wife". So... maybe, just maybe... there are a few Time Lords running around.

Now, I've gone to the Doctor Who Wiki (because there's almost nothing that DOESN'T have a wiki) and looked up Time Lord names. You know... some of them make no sense. I realized that for a good Time Lord name it needs to follow some conventions.

First, it's not a "Name". It's a title. It should always be a title. Not an alias, not a nickname, nor a made up word, it needs to be a title, not even a profession, actually. The Master doesn't actually have a profession linked title, now does he? Well, unless you consider being a Master a profession (and I know that some out there might).

Second, it should fit nicely with "The" in front of it. Saying "I'm The [appropriate title here]" shouldn't sound forced, contrived, or make no sense.

Third, it should be two or three syllables. I mean, I guess you could have a Time Lord called "The Kid" or "The Priest", but I think they just don't have the same impact as something a little longer. (Though the idea that Gordon Ramses is actually a Time Lord called "The Chef" has crossed my mind.)

Fourth, it also shouldn't sound ridiculous just being blurted out by a companion when the Daleks turn the corner. A Time Lord called "The Herbalist" really sounds kinda cool, but "Herbalist!!!!" doesn't sound right.

Finally, it should really describe the character, in some manner. As River Song explained, "Doctor: the word for healer and wise man throughout the universe. We get that word from you, you know. But if you carry on the way you are, what might that word come to mean?". So, what would the universe get from your Time Lord?

With those ideas in place, here are a few Time Lord names I have come up with over the years:

The Inspector - This was actually the one I came up with as a child. He was, in my imagination, the actual inspiration to Sherlock Holmes. I liked, also, the idea of a sonic magnifying glass.

The Commissar - A Time Lord that hangs out in Russia.

The Baron

The Commandant

I know that this isn't my finest piece of work, but it's some ideas that popped into my head, which I have tried to express in a short amount of time. 
 

Back to random musings

It's been a while since I've posted anything. I'm really pretty bad about this sort of thing. So, I figure I should start trying to write again. Also, I have my Arthros Games site that I think is dead. May was well use this instead, since it costs nothing, and I can pretty much put everything here and I'm not too worried about it going away.

This is just a warning people's of the internet. I'm back... kinda. I think.