Hello? How Have You Been?

Hey Stranger, been a while.

Yeah, I know. I haven't been very good about updating. Mostly it has to do with having too much to do. But stacked on top of that I was sick, which made me very tired at the end of the day, so I've been opting for sleep over blogging. Probably a good thing.

My cold is mostly gone. The only remnants of it is a slightly stuffy head (fading fast). an internittant cough, and a body that requires an unusual amount of sleep lately.

I mentioned in my previous post that I watched all of Firefly this last weekend and now I'm making my way through the commentary tracks. Slow going on that, too. I'm only on the second disk, but I'll probably finish it over the weekend. There's a lot of good in that series. I've really been enjoying it.

Ever since my cold last week I've been completely off my diet because my body really craved fast energy (read: bread), so I gave in and gave it what it wanted. I don't know why, but while I was sick I became full very fast and could only eat about half of what I normally eat at any given meal. That's continued after the cold has gone away and the result is that I haven't really gained any weight. Mostly, it's just an interesting thing I noticed and hopefully I can maintain it. Cutting back on the amount I'm eating should make a big difference. Really, I think it's interesting, but I have no idea as to the cause.

Tuesday night's World's Largest Dungeon game went the way of the dinosaurs. I wasn't happy with the product overall (due to editing gaffes) and many of the people involved were looking for more out of the Dungeon than it could deliver. We've talked about this a bit and it seems like the things that make a dungeon fun were, in a lot of ways, removed from the WLD so that it could be the world's largest dungeon. What are those things? Rewards in the form of magic items and experience and a point to the story.

The things the players often get as rewards were "taken out" at the recommendation of the editor in order to ensure that the characters didn't level too fast, because there are so many encounters that players would become too powerful too fast. So, it felt like players were just biding their time -- put in enough time and you'll get to the next level. It had nothing to do with how you as an individual performed and there was no way for you to track your progress nor any sense of excitement when you were given experience for that night's game (because there was none). Add to that the fact that the magic items were few and far between, and, well, it got staid quickly.

In addition, dungeons are fun because there's something you're trying to accomplish. With the WLD set up the way it was, the only story was that of survival. The characters stumbled into this strange site with no knowledge of what was going on there and, finally, a couple months in they found out why it existed. Too little, too late, my friend. So, the game was about the characters surviving. That doesn't provide much of a hook for players to sink their teeth into.

Anyway, after a flurry of emails over a few days we managed to split the gaming group in two; half continuing Mike's Shadowrun game and half (including me) starting a new D&D game that will hopefully offer more story, more chance for combat, more opportunity for roleplaying, and more of a chance for me to flesh out a previously unexplored section of my fantasy world. It's already off to a great start with the characters (a halfling thief, a gnome sorcerer, and a dwarf fighter) heading into the woods to take out some bandits that have been causing more problems than usual recently. For some reason all the players decided to play short characters, I dunno what's up, but it should be fun regardless.

Thursday and Friday I'll be out of the office along with the rest of the design department for a "retreat". It should be interesting, we've never done anything like this, but I'm looking forward to it.

Thursday evening I have to run the second session of my Unknown Armies game. The first week went well, so I hope things continue going well. I'll have to get some things organized before I go tomorrow, but I should have time after work.

Then, the interesting thing is, I have two weeks off. Not because I have plans, but because I have vacation time that will disappear if I don't take it, so . . .

It kinda sucks actually. I'd prefer to keep it banked and use up bits and pieces over the next few months. I'm sure I have things to fill the time, but it'd be nice to have something planned for all that time. I feel like I'm not getting any real utility out of it. Like it's a suspension instead of a vacation. I'm sure I'll have plenty to do once I get some things planned out in my head: read, clean my storage unit, clean some things out of my desk (and refill the storage unit), edit my newest project, write something, etc. Like I said, I'm sure I'll find things to do. Plus, the trip to see Jen in L.A. is in there someplace. Plenty to do. Now, if only someone would do the work that will sit undone while I'm not at work. That's the real challenge.