An Announcement

I’m going on break from Wednesday through Monday, as I will be at Dragon*Con! *cheers*

Linked as Paul Dini will be at D*C, and I love this show.
Whohasthebestsqueezyfaceyesyoudo!

Gimmicks Redux

I know I’ve written about gimmicks before. I love gimmicks! Gimmicks are great for drawing people in and exploring things in new ways. However, reading Only Revolutions has lead me back onto this particular train of thought.

It pains me to say this, because I absolutely loved House of Leaves, but Only Revolutions was a dull read. Which it shouldn’t have been! That’s what’s so infuriating about the whole thing! It’s a masterpiece of book and typographic design. I certainly can’t fault that aspect of Only Revolutions. But as a crafted narrative… I couldn’t bring myself to care about any of it . And I kept thinking of ways to make the book ‘work’ for me. I thought of a couple of possibilities, but they all involve removing the ‘gimmicky’ aspect of it. And the book aspect, as well, come to think of it.

This train of thought has been why I’ve been shying away from gimmicks for my most recent sessions. I wonder, could it be that I’m afraid of hiding behind a flashy shtick with a weak story? Using my gimmick as… as… a decoy, if you will?

Maybe my problem is I don’t have enough strippers bursting into song.

Do other, normal people think about things like this? Or is it just me obsessing about stories again? Maybe I should just let it go.

It’s Still Sunday Somewhere Art Dump

She's a gnome! And adorable! ^_^

Musical Inspiration

There must be some kinda way out of here”
Said the joker to the thief
There’s too much confusion
I can’t get no relief
–All Along the Watchtower, Bob Dylan

All Along the Watchtower has become one of my favorite songs to listen to while planning my D&D sessions. The craft and care that went into that song is awe-inspiring. The lyrics work in a circle, one can simply keep repeating the song over and over, but even more interesting for me and my love of non-linear time is that it can be read in reverse. No, really, look!

Two riders were approaching,
the wind began to howl.
Outside in the distance
a wildcat did growl
While all the women came and went,
barefoot servants, too.
All along the watchtower,
princes kept the view
So let us not talk falsely now,
the hour is getting late.
But you and I, we’ve been through that, and this is not our fate
There are many here among us who feel that life is but a joke
No reason to get excited, the thief he kindly spoke
None of them along the line
know what any of it is worth.
Businessmen, they drink my wine,
plowmen dig my earth
There’s too much confusion, I can’t get no relief
There must be some way out of here said the joker to the thief

Holy crap, Bob Dylan is a freakin’ genius.

But even beyond that, there’s a certain feeling this song that I want to capture in my campaign. A certain sense of frantic despair is the closest description I can come up with. Results up to this point: failure, but I keep pursuing it with dogged determination.

Of course, that’s not the only song that I listen to while planning. Songs rotate in and out as appropriate, but right now my playlist includes Moody Blues “I Know You’re Out There Somewhere;” From Autumn to Ashes “Short Stories with Tragic Endings;” Heather Alexander “March of Cambreadth.”  Here are some links. It’s cool, I’ll wait while you listen.

You done? Awesome. Anyway, perhaps this is why I sometimes feel the general mood of the story  is somewhat disjointed at times. From 80s love ballads to angry angsty songs of lost to a song with lots of killing… well, I always said I had a varied taste in music. Also, once I start throwing in what I perceive as character theme songs, well, it’s a very interesting play list, at least.

Here’s a freebie, since this our resident bard deemed this Cedrick’s theme song. Well, he goes with the original version, but this is what I have on my iGadget.

I don’t really go for lyrics as a direct source of inspiration (well… sometimes *cough*). But I find it helpful for getting myself into a proper mindset.

Homesickness

Do adventurers ever get homesick? I ask this because I started replaying Earthbound recently, and the ‘homesick’ status ailment is one that always stuck out in my mind. Homesick is a status effect that makes Ness miss a round of combat because he’s thinking of his favorite food or how much he misses home.

So do you think intrepid adventurers, forging their own path, exploring exotic dungeons, might ever get homesick? How would that mechanic play out? It makes sense to me that it would manifest as a concentration penalty for the duration of the homesickness.  Of course, I think that may only apply to 3rd edition, but you get the idea.

As I ponder this, I’m browsing the 3.5 rules compendium, seeing if there is anything like I’m thinking about. I have to say, the conditions section of that book is… impressive. For example, it reminds me that I need to make sure the PCs actually sleep, lest they become fatigued (-2 STR & DEX/ Cannot run or charge); it also reminds me what the difference between dazed and stunned is. Eheheheheh.

I would never actually implement this mechanic, but it could be fun from a character development perspective. The thought of Thud the Barbarian longing for the frozen wastes of his childhood, or a bowl of his mother’s nourishing gruel amuses me on some level. This may make me a horrible person.

(On a side note, why does homesickness so often manifest itself in the form of food? I know when I’m feeling homesick, I long for those familiar comfort foods/ fast food chains. I’ve been looking forward to Dragon*Con, not just because it’s awesome, but because I’ll probably get Chick-fil-A at least once while I’m there.)

Plot Hooks

I’ve been thinking a lot about the individual characters in the campaign, and just trying to figure out what makes them ‘tick.’ I think I have some characters figured out quite well, but others… well… not so much. To try to get a feel for where all the characters stand, plot-wise, I made a spreadsheet. Of course.

Ooh, ooh, time to play 'guess which characters I know stuff about!' I messed around with these columns a bit, so some items are in different character's columns.

So, okay, having used science to figure out what areas I’m lacking in, I came to the realization that the characters that I know how I’m going to use in the future are the players that I’ve talked to on IM (both in and out of game) about their characters.

So what does that mean? I need to bother more players about their characters outside the game. I like non-verbal communication. Some people have clearer character concepts than others. This is not news. At least it’s not to me.

We’re changing things up soon, which is always exciting (and slightly frightening). Things are going to be hectic, I imagine. Maybe now is not the time to be focusing on this sort of issue. I don’t know.

I have a lot of thinking to do, if things go forward as planned.

Break

Real life once again interferes with my posting, but here’s a video about the importance of keeping things fresh. Things like entrails.

Tim Burton Secret Formula

Art Post

Another character portrait! Rila (again) and this time, she’s not drinking.

She is, however, indulging in her favorite pastime: torturing Cedrick. This time, literally.

A Bad Case of Harpies, Part 1

The Set Up
The party, acting on a tip from the now-dead Chronomancer, William Peligrim, and the baker/wizard, Alba, are heading south to the village of Ingleham in order to recharge the broken symbol of Mystra.

The Party
Cedrick- Half-Elf Paladin
Sarin- Elven Ranger
Rila- Elven Ranger
Israfel- Eladrin Rogue
Indiriana- Eladrin Sorceress
Pentaros- Eladrin Warlord

On the Road
This is the first time in my campaign where the next point of interest was not ‘about a day away!’ The party travel for two weeks, towards the town of Ingleham. After a week of travel, the party see a large group of refugees heading north. These were all peasant types, with nothing of value to steal (Emphasis added for reasons that revealed later). The party, sensing a potential plot hook, or at least the potential for more information on the area, stop a member of the refugee groups; a man with a backpack, to which had a drinking cup attached.

Rila and Pentaros grill the man to find out why they were fleeing, getting two important pieces of information.

1) Harpies. Lots and lots of harpies attacking their village.

2) The old lord had died recently, leaving his son the new lord of the region. The new lord had not responded to the villager’s pleas for help.

Israfel, easily bored, decided to steal the villager’s cup while this exchange of information was going on. Getting a ridiculously high number on his ‘stealing stuff’ check, he successfully stole the poor man’s cup. The man, having rolled a one on his perception check, just smiled, nodded, and complimented Israfel on the fine make and craftsmanship of his cup, commenting that he even had one like it.

Having gotten all the information they feel possible from the man, the party continue onwards. After another day of travel, the party find the burnt out remains of a village. Investigating the still-smoldering ruins, they find harpy tracks and feathers strewn about the village. Finding nothing of value, they press further onwards to the village of Ingleham.

Ingleham

The map I think I've used the most. Drawn in crayon, hence the pretty purple and blue buildings.

The party arrives at the city of Ingleham. It’s a medium-sized city, slightly smaller than the one they just left. There are a lot of guards bustling around, maintaining the walls around the town. Stopping a nearby guard, they get directions to the temple of Amaunator/Lathander/Whatever the sun god is calling himself in 4e Forgotten Realms.

Pentaros is troubled, since he remembers this town, even though he’s never been here before. He heads into the temple to confirm his suspicion, the party following. He find the temple to be empty. Taking the opportunity to confirm the validity of his vision, Pentaros tries to discretely check behind the altar for the trap door. As he’s leans over to check, he is interrupted by a girl, around twelve, entering from a back room. Pentaros straightens up, and the polite smile he had on his face fades as he recognizes the girl from his earlier vision in Canti tower. The girl greets the party with a wide smile.

“Welcome to the temple of Amaunator! How may I assist you today,” the girl says with as much seriousness as she can muster.
“We’re looking for Kurt. We bring him news of… of a friend of his,” Pentaros says.
“Oh… he’s not here. He went to visit Lord Pankiron,” the girl say. Her smile turns to a frown abruptly. “but he should be back by now. He’s been gone two weeks now.”

The party thanks the girl for her time, and head to the inn to discuss what should be done next.

TO BE CONTINUED

Sword Club Songs

On my way to Sword Club, I try to listen to a lot of upbeat music to get my mood up. Which normally means I listen to The Shins. A lot. Especially this song, which is one of my favorites of all time.

Anyway, last session, I heard a couple of awesome songs that I have to start adding to the mix. This one even has the word ‘sword’ in it! Good enough for me!

The next has an amazing music video. And I like laser tag. And the song isn’t bad, either!