Wasting time, yours and mine.

Eleven down, one hundred and twenty-seven to go.

This one will get me through to the weekend.  Which also means I still need to find words to put on the page for Monday.  Two days to get one entry done.  I'm not sure it's enough.    There are about a baker's dozen digital sticky notes posted on the computer with ideas.  That's not really the issue, motivation and procrastination might be though.   I may or may not be falling back into the "I've got a safety net buffer zone, I can skate this one out" trap. 

I've been pseudo busy today on other projects that demanded my attention.  I would rather spend time with.  Oooooo, look.  Shiny.  Are you going to eat that?  Elvis, (yes, he's still the big, white dog), what is it you want buddy?  That goofy-assed grin doesn't ell me much.  Writing rules, a spreadsheet, a nap, okay two naps, a crappy night last night, an early morning this a.m, cool temperatures, thunderstorms and rain have conspired to entice me back to the bed.  I can still hear the siren's call, beckoning, luring me with the false promise of sleep.  You know, all those really important things that pop up when you're putting shit off.

I've been working on the Wardens of the Realm game all afternoon.  Got to keep it interesting for the players and especially for myself.  If I'm not having fun I can just phone it it.

"Hey guys.  Bad news, everyone died, roll up new characters and we'll start over next time."

Oh, and if any of you guys are reading this, pay no heed to the photo.  It's not for you.  Really.  I wouldn't lie to you...much.  Trust me, it really isn't about you. 

It's a good thing everyone has at least one back-up character, not that you're likely to need them or anything.  Good thing you have a cubic butt-ton of allies who can mount a recovery rescue mission.  Of course, they won't be needed either.

Look on the bright side, now that everyone is familiar with the rule set you can build better characters.  Oh, and you should always remember the number one rule, the GM is susceptible to bribery attempts.

Twelve down, one hundred and twenty-six to go.

As always, thanks for coming.

See you on Monday.  Peace.

What time didja say?

Eight down, one hundred and thirty to go. 

I thought I could get motivated this weekend and get a few entries ready.  However, it's 11:45 pm on Sunday night and I'm scrambling to get something written before four balls wasteland local, UTC -5;  midnight for the uninitiated.

Several years ago, and for several years a large group of friends and acquaintances met in a banquet room in one of our local hangouts, The Berg.

It was an unofficial gaming club.  Management would open it for us about 6 pm on Monday evenings and we would take full advantage of the 2 for 1 appetizer happy hour(s).  I've heard the waitresses fought to first blood for the privilege, we were regulars and notoriously generous tippers.  Though the Heart Attack Special was not on the menu, all you had to do was ask, everyone knew what it was.  Two for one appetizers: three cheese garlic bread and deep fried chicken tenders.  It allowed you to feel your arteries hardening with each bite.  It wasn't just the appetizers that we took advantage of, burgers, including the world famous Heidelburger, the butterfly pork loin  and the patty melt were pretty darn good as well.  Oh, and beer and other fine, adult beverages.

We usually started the evening with cards while we waited for the main events.  Pitch, Spades, Hearts and my personal favorite, no, it isn't Go Fish; it's cribbage.  I've been counting 15's, pairs and runs for a lot of years, probably 40 or more.  Backgammon and Chess also found their way to a table on occasion. 

Over the course of the evening there were at least a couple of RPG's in play.  The Chapleton Island Campaign,  a home-brew, 1st edition AD&D that began circa 1977.  I would have gotten involved about 10-12 years later and played until the campaign ended in 2000.  A game in which a pitcher of beer has played the part of a giant praying mantis, (Miss you Stan), for 1" tall miniature figurines (toy soldiers), to battle.

One of our younger players was in the habit of asking the time.  Bear with me, it's not a really weird tangent.  One evening close to 7 he asked me the time.  It was close enough to 7 pm, 1900, or midnight GMT/UTC for me to answer quickly and cryptically, four balls Zulu.  The confused look on his face told me all I needed to know, my work for the day was done.  Midnight, 12:00 am, or for you 24 hour clock types; 0000 UTC time, usually identified as Zulu time.  Hence, 4 balls Zulu.  See, I told you it wasn't a stretch, and brought us full circle back to where I started.
 
As always, thanks.
Nine down, one hundred and twenty-nine to go.

Oh, I lied.  It's really Saturday afternoon here in the wastelands.

See you tomorrow..

First things First.

Three down, one hundred and thirty-five to go.

Friday in the wasteland and I'm trying to get an entry ready for a Monday morning post.  I know, who am I and what have I done with the real me, the procrastinating, push the deadline, pundit of alliteration?  Well, I rather enjoyed the flexibility of those ten weeks of lead time I had when the year started, obviously.   I enjoyed that flexibility so much that I let it slip, slide, slink and slither away.  In the attempt to prevent the ISP debacle of the last week I've decided to restock the tank... yada, yada, blah, blah, blah... who am I trying to kid here?  We all know it's a long shot.  I'll be lucky to get to Tuesday.   Don't bet the farm.

I'm gearing up to run the Wardens of the Realm  campaign Sunday afternoon.  The Wardens (Player Characters) and a small army of peasants are traipsing through caverns in the attempt to A) find a way out, B) survive the events, and part 3) try to determine more of the story.  Good luck with that boys, I don't even know the whole thing yet.  Or I do, having it planned out for 10 Seasons on HBO, and a few full length Feature Films coming soon to a theater near you.   You know, just in case one of them is actually reading this.

I should really settle in here and get the grunt work done for the game.  I should also get my ass in gear and get all the campaign notes updated.  You know, just in case (intentional, don't rag on me for repeating myself), anyone should rush right out to learn the whole story...to date, or actually not so up to date.  I should probably get off my arse and get all the campaign notes updated. (Still intentional).

First things first though.  It's a nice day, temperatures are mild and well, mild for this part of the wastelands at this time of the year.  First things always first.  I think I need a nap.

I'll procrastinate later.

Four down, one hundred and thirty-four to go.

As always, Thanks...

See you tomorrow.

Canon to the right of them,

Canon to the left of them.

Canon to the front of them

volleyed, complained and whinged about the rules.

(The misspelling is intentional).

There are about a bazzillion factions and combinations of rule sets, genres, sub-genres, iterations, editions and errata in the Role-Playing Game hobby.  Two of the oldest, Dungeons and Dragons; D&D, and Traveller each have by my count, something like 5 or 6 different "New" Editions.

"They only make new rules to force us to spend money."  Well, yeah.  Partially.  A game publisher is in the business as a business to make money.  But games, game engines and systems change.  Rules change, someone thinks of a new mechanic, or a better way of dealing with an issue, a new rule that may make for a better game play. 
 
I've built my own rule sets, cobbling together bits and pieces out of other games and my own ideas: FRANKENGAME, Chypworld.  Eventually got to the point where in fit into a 12 cu.ft. foot looker; barely.  Ugh.  Not so good for portable gaming.  The last Traveller universe I created I threw LBB (Little Black Book), Traveller 2300, MegaTraveller, Traveller 4th, GURPS, and anything else I could think of into a blender and poured out a cocktail of OMG UGH. While mixing and matching can often create an amazing, complex, detailed Game world.  It's also a big ole Pain in the ASS.  I've been part of the writing team for a Sci-fi RPG.  I'm still rather happy with the work I did on what would later become the First Edition rule set. 

So, I get it.  Rules change, gamers want something different and new, change.  game designers want something new that hasn't already been done in the past 40 years.

Which kinda brings me back around to the point.  There are about a bazzillion factions and combinations of rule sets, genres, sub-genres, iterations, editions and errata in the Role-Playing Game hobby.   I'm only going to focus on two of those factions.  For me, gaming either as a player or a GM is about my creativity.  There are a lot of us out here, Rules are merely a suggestion.  We create, interpret the rules, sometimes quite loosely, and if that doesn't work, we make shit up on the fly. 

Then, there are the Canon players for whom the rule book is gospel.  If it's not in the rules it doesn't exist and can't work like that.  I have gamed with players who, if they didn't have the rule books memorized, were familiar enough they could tell you where a certain rule, description or example could be found. 

Not putting down the players who are Canon players, just not my style.  You may be sorely disappointed if you sit at my table expecting hard and fast rules.  I'll freely admit to cheating on die rolls, sometimes in favor of the Players, sometimes not.  Always for the sake of the story though.

Have fun, game on...

Thanks.

See you tomorrow.

Synchronized.

Well, this is it.  Our timelines are synchronized.  June 6th, 2016.  If I don't find enough words to make a driveling ramble in the next nine hours or so, there won't be an entry at midnight and this current reboot/relaunch/mulligan/do over thingy will come to an abrupt stop.  I almost fell back into aviation related similes, metaphors and allegories.  You know, crash and burn, augur in and buy the farm.  But I resisted the temptation.  Well, mostly that is.

I restarted the Wardens of the Realm campaign yesterday.  The Royal First Wardens have survived the long cold winter on the northern frontier.  Some even prospered, hehe, with at least one child conceived during the down time.

Not mean and nasty enough...

The four mean nasties I had planned for an encounter succeeded in separating and dividing the Wardens and then quite promptly failed to provide much, read that as ANY challenge, as one fell to an extremely harsh fumbled attack and another to a extremely brutal critical hit.  The remaining two chose to fight another time.  Ugh, I suppose I need to up the ante bringing more and tougher opponents to the table.  No, it isn't D&D in any of its iterations, it is however a fantasy environment, and yes, the four mean nasties were Umberhulks.  Though, to my ear the h is silent.  Umber-ulk.

I use a modified version of Green Ronin Publishing's AGE Stunt and Fumble Criticals which allows Players, NPC's and creatures to "Roll their own" Stunts, choosing from an  à la carte menu.  At the extreme ends, the high and low on the die roll indicate harsh and brutal results, up to and including instant death.   So much for that challenge...  Ugh.

Just wait boys, (shakes fist) Imma uppin' ma game. 

Now, if I can't find more words to ramble about, I fear I'll be in the same position tomorrow.  ugh squared, to the ugliest...Thanks.

See you when I see you.  Yes, I know, "Thanks for the warning, and not if you see me first..".

Unbroken string continues.

Saturday in the wasteland and I'm out gaming all day tomorrow.  Meaning if i don't put the proverbial pen to paper and write an entry the unbroken string will no longer be unbroken.  There is nothing in the queue to publish at midnight tomorrow night for a Monday morning post. I had wanted to get at least two, perhaps three loaded to get a jump on next week.  The best laid plans of mice and men and all.

Instead, I spent all day working on the Wardens of the Realm campaign that restarts tomorrow.  I fully expect at least one fatality in the Royal First Dragoons as they get hit with four mean nasties, in a coordinated divide and conquer attack.   I might even throw in a another as a 'Boss fight" once I have them softened up.  I've said before in gaming related driveling, it's not a me versus them thing, it's a story driven thing.  If you sit at my table and don't have a strong sense of your character's mortality you'll probably be creating a new character soon.  Don't do stupid shit, fight intelligently.  If you make a habit of kicking in the door and attacking the biggest, baddest thing in the room don't be surprised if it bites back.

Things should heat up this season for the Wardens, perhaps they been invited to attend Cornelia's Midsummer Court.  Perhaps, they'll be summoned to appear, perhaps they will be neck deep in a war.  Perhaps they be dead, thus sealing the fate of Terre du Nord...

Eighteen posts remaining to make it six months.  I really need to get motivated and off my arse to get the buffer zone refilled.

Thanks.

See you tomorrow, one way of a BIG THE END or another.

Tally ho squared, part deux

If you know me, or are a regular reader you probably know I dig airplanes and aviation.  I should have been a pilot, however, time, finances, and crappy assed eyes combined to make the idea unfeasible.   Instead I got part of my fix sated with board games like Avalon Hill's "Richthofen's War", TSR's "Dawn Patrol",  Flying Buffalo's "Ace of Aces".  J.D. Webster's "Airpower" and "Fighting Wings"  are excellent flight sim board games.  I don't have much experience with Ares Games "Wings of Glory" series, I'll reserve judgement on that one.  I've even been a part of writing a WWI air combat, never published, rule set.  We spent a couple of days visiting every Walmart and toy store in the area in search of a specific pack(s) of MicroMachines.  Then another couple of days Kitbashing, painting, and repainting the models until we had a good selection of semi-passable vintage planes to use as miniatures.  These only fulfilled a small fraction of my urge.

Hi, I'm Chip and I'm an addict.  I've got literally thousands of hours of stick and rudder time, sitting here at my desk where no one is at risk due to my crappy-assed, and now old eyes.  Yep, I'm a flight simmer. or have been in the past.

Psion Software Flight Sim. Circa 1982.

The Timex/Sinclair 2000.  This would have been my first foray into the land of make-believe pilot.  It's a wonder I didn't say screw it and disavow the habit then.  The graphics were abysmal. the flight engine was atrocious.  Yet, I kept coming back to flight sims.

I have no idea how many times I played Dynamix's Red Baron 3d.  Or how many "kills" I have in any combat simulator, it's at least 5, I'm a flight sim ace.  He says facetiously.
(It's a lot more.)

However, combat flight sims aren't the top of my list, neither is the "Virtual Airline" route.  I like, low and slow, flying by the seat of my pants in vintage aircraft, and at times is really crappy weather, you could read that as INSANE.  Low ceilings, rain, gusty, nasty winds, icing.  It's a good thing that I'm flying a desk.  I'm a lot less likely to buy the farm and kill people from here.

This brings us full circle with another fine segue.  The good news:I've managed to keep the Midnight Ramble from crashing for at least one more day.  The bad news, however.  When this one goes live on Wednesday morning, it will be the last one in the queue.  Our timelines will then be synchronized.  There is one draft and a few ideas remaining.  That is if I can coax anything out of them.  It's been fun.  We'll see what tomorrow brings. 

As always, please insure your tray tables and seat backs are in the fully upright and locked position.  Thanks for flying with Ramble air...

See you later.

Cut, Print, it's a Wrap

I wrapped up the Serenity game and brought the season to a close last week.  The programming executives, (the Players), in their infinite wisdom, unlike Fox and "Firefly, have signed on for another season.

Critical reviews were favorable and enthusiastic.  Everyone involved genuinely seemed to enjoy the  story I tried to tell, the game itself and the system.  So much so, one player is seriously considering using the background and respective universes for either Star Wars or Traveller and the Cortex RPG system for a crossover campaign mash-up. 

Awesome.  Sign me up.  Between treatment for depression and time spent away from a table either choice might convince me to come out of retirement as a player.

Through awesome planning and a tactical advantage, as well as some phenomenal skill checks by the player's, and not so spectacular results on my end, (yes, I'll get those checked out on my next visit to my doctor.), Ollie, Karter, Junker and Dexter managed to thwart a deadly terrorist attack in which projected casualties exceeded 250,000.  They didn't manage to exact their revenge on their former boss and friend, nor catch up to the mastermind of the operation.  Oh, and they are still wanted fugitives fleeing the long arm of the "Alliance".  

Sometimes, I really dig my job.  Yep, backstory creation, I love it.  For instance; in this campaign I created detailed character dossiers (including photographs) for no less than eight of the important NPC's.  The kickers here, one of them disappeared without a trace several years before the game actually began.  Another was confirmed KIA in the recent war.  His twin sister and their godfather, (the mastermind) are missing presumed KIA in the same war.  A war that ended in "Unification" six months before we actually kicked off the game.  The remaining four were put together as friends of the players, and were specifically designed for emotional investment.

"Tech genius Darcy Brown, who looks a lot exactly like Zoe Kravitz.  Laid back and very likeable.  She is also somewhat of a lightweight, a sensitive flower with a delicate constitution and a weak stomach.  She generally doesn’t deal well with threats to her health.  She's a hippy.  But she's loyal.  Darcy is a people person; she has no-concept of personal space. If she knows you, and trusts you, you should expect to be greeted with a big hug. She likes being called the ship's mascot; Wayfarer’s Sin is home. She’s not much good when push comes to shove, but she doesn’t really need to be with your team around. No one talks about what happened to the last guy who came on too strong and threatened her. She doesn’t know what happened to him.  You do though."

And she's also dead.  Killed three sessions into the game with the two other crew member friends.  Betrayed by their boss, father of the twins and best friend to the mastermind.  We'll see what season two brings.

We're going to switch back to Wardens of the Realm for a while.  My plan is to run a particular game for six months stints.  That should go a long way towards keeping things fresh for all of us, and me motivated.

Now, you get to look forward to more drivel about different characters in a different genre.  I should get busy and import all the details of the Serenity campaign into Scabard campaign manager.  Which means I also need to get off my lazy arse and get the Wardens campaign notes up to date.

As always, mòran taing.

See you tomorrow.

Curtain, ACT II

This past weekend I GM'd the Serenity game.  We had a good session, a lot of action, advanced the story and the protagonist Player Characters have uncovered the terrorist plot to attack a crowd of millions with a a very lethal nerve gas, projected casualties exceed 200, 000.   Nerve gas, which they hijacked and gave to the Dust Devil terrorists.  Unknowingly of course.  I love my job. (Cue evil laugh).

Knowing this campaign would be a relatively short one I altered my normal refereeing style.  Most of the games I GM are open world and non-linear, the players being free to travel, act and adventure how they choose.  There are always the tidbits of adventure hooks and loose threads for them to tug.  My campaigns are mostly guided by the actions of the players.  Those actions in any given gaming session dictate the circumstances and influence the adventure I create for the next session.   I came in on a different tack for this game. This time I created a story hook, plotting both the beginning and the end of the tale while leaving the middle to the players.  I've crafted this one as a action adventure drama in three acts.  The problem I have with this approach is a GM has to have a firmer hand, using harsher and not so subtle railroading methods. (Railroading:  A term describing the process of forcing the players down a much more linear and closed path).  Between experience, most of us have been at this hobby for 30 years or more, familiarity with my GM'ing style and flat out contrariness the players are notoriously hard to keep on track.  Their grumblings have not been as intense as I would have predicted.    

We've lowered the curtain on Act II.  The final act will take one or two more sessions before ending the season on a cliffhanger.   I love my job. (Cue evil laugh).  As I've mentioned before, the players will have a choice, actually several different options, choose one;

1. Exact their revenge on their former boss for his betrayal and murder of their friends.
2. Stop an attack on a large population sympathetic towards the 'Evil' Alliance.
3. Hunt down the mastermind of the attack and bring him to justice.
4. Say to hell with it and R-U-N O-F-T, trying to find somewhere in the Verse where they can hide until someone comes looking.

Choose one, live or die with your choice.  Heroes, Heels, or move up to the top of the Alliance's most wanted terrorist watch list...

As always,  gracias.

See you tomorrow.

I'm still playing.

It's hockey night tonight.  The regular season is winding down.  Our Bluenotes have clinched a playoff spot for the 40th time in their 50 year history.  The only team from the first expansion in 1967 not to have hoisted the Cup.  This is their year, touch wood.  (Not that I'm superstitious or anything.)  Still after a rough year plagued with stretches of bad play and injuries the Notes are currently tied with Dallas for first in the Central Division.  How badly have they suffered with the injured list?  As of today, they've lost 266 man-days to injury.  Through 75 games of an 82 game schedule an average of nearly 5 players, 25% of the roster. have missed every game.  St. Louis has not been able to bring their starting roster to the rink at all since the season opened on October 8th.

Yes, still ancient history, you still don't care, yada, yada, yada.  In order to write these, I need subject material.  No news, is not news, and nothing for me to write home about.  I will say that either through avoiding CNN, the use of an anti-depressant or both I seem to be on a much more even keel.  My doctor called me the most stable patient she has.  That makes me a wee bit concerned about the rest of her patients.  Stable is not a term I would necessarily use to describe myself.

I should be working on the Serenity game, I've got a cubic metric butt-ton to do before the next session;  Encounters to detail, an attack to plan and coordinate, an attack force to build, the good, bad and ugly NPC's to craft.  All that and at least one way out for the hapless PC's.   I make it sound like work.  Well, it is to a point, but it also a creative part of the hobby that I truly enjoy.  The more I can do now, the more I can help suspend disbelief for the players next Sunday.  The more they can suspend that disbelief, the better story we can tell.  When we collectively tell a good story we all win.

We're right in the middle of act II, leading right to the climax of the story.  The most the players can hope for is a draw.  I thought about calling it a "Wash," (reference).  Too soon?  I'll be hitting them with a moral dilemma.  They'll either be able to extract their revenge on their betrayer, or they'll be able to prevent the deaths of tens of thousands of civilians, Alliance citizens, and Federal employees.  Just not both.  Yep, those same people who have just squashed the Browncoat independence movement and are now trying to impose their will and control over the rest off  the 'Verse'.  Sometimes, I really dig my job...   

As always, it ain't much.  It's done, locked and loaded.  Thanks.

See you tomorrow.

Tin foil hats.

I'm leaving this in the case I should happen to vanish quickly and unexpectedly.  It's not like they'll find this and censor it.  I'm not certain that my loyal following of a dozen readers is large enough to warrant intensive scrutiny.  After yesterday's research I'm probably on the Homeland Security watch list and may very well be on my way to Guantanamo, Cuba, again.  This time not as a guest.

In all transparency, I'm just living vicariously through my imagination.  In truth, I'm fleshing out the next scene (gaming session) in Act 2 of the Serenity game.  

In order to gauge the scale and severity of the upcoming catastrophe, my search history of the past two days, have included;

What are the effects of nerve agents?  
(In case of accidental exposure or emergency medical aid.   How will the lethal dose and the size of the crowds affect casualties.)

What is the most populous city on Earth?   
(To estimate the size of the Capital on the planet in question.  Tokyo-13.5million in the metropolis and 37.8 million, in the greater metropolitan area. 2015 estimates.)

What was the largest recorded gathering of humans in one place.  
(Again, to determine a sense of scale and the numbers I could expect to attend a very high profile, and very special commemoration.   (Kumbh Mela pilgrimage, India, 2013.  Believed to be the largest gathering on earth, Kumbh Mela is held every 12 years in northern India.  Estimates place the number of Hindu pilgrims who attended this festival at 30 million.)

What are the effects of a high altitude EMP on electronics.  
(To disrupt communications and degrade sensors performance to improve the bad guy's chance of success.)

Things are boiling to the point of over as another layer of the onion has been peeled back.  Some questions answered, more arising.   I have also told the players I planned to do to them what Fox did to Firefly.  Cut em off after one season.  I'm not certain they appreciated my humor.

*Note to all of the jack-boo...ummmm, diligent and hardworking Federal employees who are monitoring me.  As always, this is a joke, this is only a joke.  In the event of a real joke please tune to the emergency broadcast network for further joke information.   

As always thanks for coming. 

See you tomorrow, I hope.

***Note to Mr. Martin.  Cease and Desist.  Pay no attention to the nondescript sedan with the government license plates parked behind the nondescript white van sprouting multiple antennae.  Signed, your friendly neighborhood jack-boo...ummmm dog catchers.  Yeah, that's it, that's the ticket... Dog catchers.***

Rekt I tell you.

MAYDAY, MAYDAY, MAYDAY...

I've let the buffer slip from fifty entries to twenty.  Y'all are catching up.  My avoidance of the news and politics have left this ship aground.

I Game Mastered the Serenity game yesterday.  There wasn't much in the way of 'Action' but we did advance the story.  The Players have escaped the noose that was being drawn around their necks and avoided a pair of Alliance boats trying to maintain a blockade until re-reinforcements can arrive on scene.  Now the four fugitives are lying low in a convenient hideout.  It does appear they have an ally, someone sent out a Verse wide wave of a "Preacher" man preaching plague and pestilence raining down on the innocent, and of a Judas claiming his 30 pieces of silver.  The prayer meeting was loaded with coded subliminal messages. 

  

I think they may not completely trust me... 

As a result of GM'ing the session and a decided lack of sleep on Saturday I was absolutely wrecked last night.  Tired, my back hurt (old football or war injury, I forget which.  Make something up, that's what I do), and I'd had a headache for most of the evening.  REKT I tell you, wunned ober by a twuk and all that.  I was in bed by 11:30,  which for me is about 4 hours early.  Got up once to get a drink and leave a previous glass of H2O in the loo.  Moved to the couch about 9 am, and finally up for coffee about noon.  Dayum, my body really must have needed the sleep.

I should have used the energy to get a blog entry or two into the mix, but I spent the afternoon doing something I had just told the players in the Serenity game I wouldn't be doing; writing rules.  Those rules will be the last ones I write, knock on wood (not that I'm superstitious).  The players and I all like the game mechanics, most of us are NOT particularly impressed with the way those rules are written.  Oh well, I guess writing rules is what I do.  Some of you may remember the 12 cu. foot storage bin footlocker with the nightmare that was the CHYPWORLD rules set...   What the hell was I thinking?  K.I.S.S.  Keep It Simple, Stupid.  I want simplicity now.

Holy crap, I got an entry done, make the count 21.  Well for now that is, the next one is scheduled to post in 45 minutes.

Thanks for letting me hang out with you.

See you tomorrow.

Pull up. Pull up.

"Tower, Chipair 2447 declaring an emergency.  One eight miles northwest, request runway two zero.  Engine power down, difficult to maintain blogspeed."

Chipair 2447, make straight-in runway two zero.  Maintain two thousand until established on the localizer.  Winds 135 @12, barometer 29.82.  Do you need the trucks?"

"Tower,  yeah, you better roll em.  I don't know if I can keep the blog from crashing."

I am really falling down on my self-imposed schedule.  Right, big surprise there.  It's Friday here in the wasteland time zone and I haven't written any of these since Tuesday.    Aside from being a lazy bum and under unmotivated, (I know, right, big surprise eh?) I have been doing some work on the Serenity and my Wardens of the Realm campaigns, all the while trying not to troll Trumpeteers and Cruzites.  I even did a little work on a short story, which I could share as it could be #fictionFriday (my Friday, not yours), but it's in no condition to move yet.  It's still in the ER and not stable.

That leaves me with with more mindless, inane and insane village idiot ramblings.  No rubber-disk sports thingy tonight, it's the All Star break and the Bluenotes haven't played in nearly a week.  After the first half of their season and the way they've played in their past two games, the rest should probably do them good.  The season starts up again for them on Tuesday.

Another day, I started this on last Friday,  and it's now Monday.  I'm falling even further behind bloggy blog schedule.  The bitching Betty is nagging me incessantly.  

I GM'd the Serenity game yesterday, (this is a different session than the one I mentioned yesterday, timey-wimey, wibbly wobbly effects of editing and shifting the order around some).  It was a good session, I hit the players with a wicked turn of events and an equally bad plot twist.    Now, instead of be-bopping round the 'Verse' having fun, they're trying to turn into 'Big Damn Heroes' fighting for their lives and trying to prevent a catastrophic attack on a civilian population. 

The big white dog (yes, his name is still Elvis),  decided I needed to get out of bed at an ungodly 'hour.   Who knew 8 o'clock came more than once per day?   Between the gaming session, and Elvis (bet you thought I was going to do that whole Big White Dog thing again didn't you?) I've been ready for a serious nap since.

It's only taken two days, but this one is done.
Thanks for bearing with me...

See you tomorrow.

Terrible weather, decent day.

Monday in the Wastelands and an ill wind doth blow, chilling the hearts of men.  

I suppose it had to have happened sooner or later.

"The National Weather Service has issued a Winter Weather Advisory" for this part of the wastelands  Sleet, freezing rain and snow moving in tomorrow.  Yay.  Two to four inches of fluffy white snow shit.  Winds 6-10 gusting 20.  Double Yay.  Currently, -8°C (-13° windchill).  That would be 17° and 8°F for the rest of you.  It was bitterly, read that as angry witches and pissed off brass monkeys cold yesterday.  My day to get out, and do something,  (How was that for a segue?)

Evidently the last Serenity game was enjoyable to one and all, including yours truly.  Things have really turned south for the protagonist characters, I cranked the heat up to about 11 or so.  What started as a simple heist to relieve the Feds of a few unguarded medical and emergency supplies turned into an ambush and slaughter of a squad of purple bellies and the hijacking of enough VZ CN25 Tritium polychlorium, to contaminate a small city with the very potent and lethal nerve agent.  Now instead of just thieves, they're now Browncoat terrorists.

"I don't know what was in the truck, but you've hit a hornet's nest with the same stick you've just poked the bear with,  Every Fed in the Verse is hunting you.  The planet is blockaded, the city is under martial law, and every civilian boat in the docks has got a land-lock on it.  Lay low, we're working on an exit strategy."  

...Tune in next time I said...

Regardless of the genre, I almost always try to end a gaming session with a cliffhanger.   The Players often whine about it, yet, they keep asking for more.  Suckers...


It's dinner/supper time and nearly time for frozen-rubber-disk sports thingy tonight, the Blues are trying for 3 in a row, and still without six key players lost through injury. 

Let's Go Blues!

Thanks for your time...

See you tomorrow.

 

Not quite the end.

Oh oh.  Is this the beginning of the end?

Am I facing the slow decline of productivity, oh noes?  Izzat the holiday blues?  The holidaze?  just meh?  I haven't produced many posts this week.  At five posts a week, I should have 25 in the queue, ready and waiting to go live for your parakeet's pooping pleasure.  Though I've been rather lax this week, I'm still in front of the thundering herd.  This makes number 37, and should keep your birds happy until mid February.  Wait, should have kept your birds happy until mid February.  

The St. Louis Blues host the Maple leafs tonight, betcha can't guess what I'll be doing?  The Bluenotes have had a tough row to hoe, losing 7 out of the past 10.  Perhaps, that's the reason for my low blog production lately.  Oh oh.  What if my low number of posts are causing the Blues to lose?  Egads!  We can't have that now can we?  So, the game starts as I'm typing this, and Tarasenko scores in less than two  minutes.  Good thing I'm not superstitious.

Oh oh, just when I decide to take a break, get something to eat and watch the game, the Leafs tie it up with less than 2 minutes left in the first.  Maybe I should be superstitious.

I should be running the Serenity RPG game tomorrow, knock on wood. (good thing I'm not the superstitious type).  Time to crank up the heat on the players.  This mini-campaign is slated to last about 8-10 episodes.  Tomorrow, the fecal material hits the ventilation impeller.  I'll string them along all afternoon before pulling out and leaving them stranded on a cliffhanger.  They hate me when I do that, but they always come back asking for more. 

Shhhh, don't tell the players, but they will be betrayed by their captain, and three trusted NPCs will be killed.  Stuff is about to get real, the Feds, the Browncoats, the Dust-devils, Adeli Niska and maybe even Reavers are all pissed at the pc's.   The next 3-months of sessions could get interesting as they try to extricate themselves from a world of hurt.

Probably a good thing I'm not superstitious, Leafs have scored twice more, leading 3-1. 

As always, thanks for watching.  Tune in next time, same bat time, same bat channel.

See you tomorrow.

The death of a hobby.

I should be geeking out and gaming this afternoon.  I'm not.  It's not my week to GM my Serenity game.  I'm supposed to be helping play test another player's new rule set.  I'm not.  Up until late last night I had fully intended to participate.  I thought about it all week, it will be fun I said.  Last night I realized it wouldn't be.  (Sharp as a bowling ball this one is).  As I've alluded to in the past, I'm no longer having fun and enjoying taking on the role of a fictional character and trying to tell their story, and to help tell the stories that the other players and the GM are creating.  I haven't enjoyed it for several months and I've realized that Albert Einstein's definition of insanity is applying here;

"Insanity: Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."

I'm not getting any different results.  Three different Gamemasters, three different games with no less than eight or ten different characters created, retired or killed off by boredom, mine not theirs.  I don't know if it's burnout, after all I played my first game of D&D (First edition, original 3 book) way back in 1979.  I don't think that is the issue as I am still enjoying the act of world-building and story-telling from the point of being a gamemaster.  It's not necessarily the company I keep, the other players are experienced and for the most part good gamers.  Each have their individual quirks and gaming styles, some good, some...not so much.  I'm the same way, good, bad, ugly and set in my experienced ways.  Therein, might be the problem.  The chemistry of the group may be such that it "Damages my calm." (reference).

It's rather sad to think that a hobby I've loved and enjoyed for nearly forty years may be headed the way of the dodo bird... 

See you Tomorrow... 

“The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results”. - See more at: http://ideapharma.com/announcements/the-definition-of-insanity-is-doing-the-same-thing-over-and-over-again-but-expecting-different-resul#sthash.Tf1R8bDd.dpuf

“The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results”. - See more at: http://ideapharma.com/announcements/the-definition-of-insanity-is-doing-the-same-thing-over-and-over-again-but-expecting-different-resul#sthash.Tf1R8bDd.dpuf

Another Monday in the wilderness.

Well, I'm still here.  Is everyone as gobsmacked about it as I am?

Guess what, the Blue Notes are playing frozen-rubber-disk sports thing again.  I wonder if watching the hockey game somehow makes me write an entry?  It seems like it has been a recurring theme lately.  Whatever the reason, I'm still writing.  Well, such as it is.

I'm seriously considering revisiting my fantasy novel again.  I wasn't happy with the way it sounded, or read as the case may be.  I wasn't satisfied with my writing, or how the story was developing.  I lost interest and put in on the back burner.  Now, it is on life-support, tucked away in the unfinished fiction folder.  I still believe there is a good story there, maybe I can revive it.  I literally have hundreds of unfinished or barely started story ideas tucked away in that critical care ward of an archive folder.  Some just a couple of paragraphs or simply an idea, but they are there.  Maybe I should go into the folder and spend a day perusing them. The next great American novel might be lurking there, waiting to reach out and grab me.

I don't know what will become of these entries, or how long they'll last but I'm writing.  My muse is out there, close enough that I can feel her hovering in the darkness out on the fringes.  My creativity is trying to flow again as witnessed by the ideas I have for both my Wardens of the Realm campaign currently on hiatus, and the new Serenity/Firefly mini campaign.  Unfortunately, two games that I really enjoy game-mastering, my last incarnation of my Traveller game and a 1920's pulp-fiction themed pulps game seem to have succumbed and perished.    Oh well, they are both there, ready to be revived and sent in if they are requested.

Thanks for sticking around.

Oh, by the by, the St. Louis Blues won again...

See you tomorrow... 

 

Dragons and Blasters.

See what I do for you folks, 8:50 pm on a Saturday night and I'm here, trying to write something for a Friday.  Sounds normal for me. 

"I love deadlines. I love the whooshing noise they make as they go by." 

Douglas Adams.

Except I'm two months in front of a thundering herd of loyal followers.   

The Blue Notes are getting ready to start the 3rd in Nashville.  Goalie Jake Allen has been a brick wall thus far, fresh coffee is in the pot, the dog is a happy camper and I'm in a relatively good mood, mostly ache free and as well rested as I get. 

I've been neck deep in creating backstory of a new Science fiction campaign I'll be running soon.  This one sounds like fun, but then I believe that all GM's design the games they want to play in.   I'm no different.  I've been an old school brick and mortar role-playing gamer since way back in the last century, 1979 to be exact.  Like most of us of that generation we started with Dungeons and Dragons.  It was basically the only game (pun intended) in town.  However, that changed quickly with the introduction of Traveller.  Where D&D is obviously fantasy based and helped fuel my love of that genre of fiction, Traveller is Science fiction gaming in the far future, and fed my love of science fiction.  As much as I love fantasy fiction, good sci-fi is my go to favorite.  If I were offered a spot in an excellent fantasy game or a decent sci fi one, I think I would rather play in the sci fi game.  Well, I would if I could find a good game.  By good I don't mean to disparage my friends who do have games they run, it's just that I'm not currently enjoying their games.  Part of my problem is I'm a role player as opposed to a (dice rolling) roll player.  I want to invest in a character and help to tell a good story rather than fight a miniatures battle on a battle map.  Some of you have no clue what I'm Midnight Ramblin' about...See what I did there?  That's okay, gaming is a niche hobby anyway, and old school table top is even more obscure.  I'll put my current Fantasy game on hiatus, as a cold winter sets in in the realm of Terres du Noir and the new game should start tomorrow.  This one shows promise and sounds like it could be fun.  Would someone like to GM it so I can play?

Oh, by the way, the 3rd period of the hockey game was better than the first two.  Blues win and Jake the Snake shut out Nashville.  Yay sports-frozen-rubber-disk-thing .

See you Monday...