Jadarx No Monogatari

Wrestlemania 27 Thoughts

2011-04-04T07:47:00.000-07:00

So last night I decided to watch my first live Wrestlemania in 7 years. I used to really like WWE programming back when all I could get was Smackdown on UPN. I fell off the wagon when things got stupid. Recently, I starting watching smaller, indie promotions (PWG, Chikara, DragonGate) which focus on what I wanted to see: wrestling, not dumb storylines.

Back to the WWE, I heard good buzz surrounding the results of the Royal Rumble. So I started watching again and got hooked. The feuds were interesting and the wrestling good. So I got caught up in the build for Wrestlemania. So I decided to drop the $55 bucks on the PPV. I was hesitant, given the price, but my excitement won out.

I should have know the evening wasn't going to turn out well when the preshow started and I realized I hadn't bought the HD version. This didn't ruin anything, but it's surprising that once you get used to HD, you can really tell how bad SD looks.

Edge vs. Alberto Del Rio for the World Heavyweight Championship
Ok opening match, but not a WM caliber title defense. Edge wins and then goes and smashes Del Rio's car (Yeah, Faces?!?). And Del Rio is really upset, which is odd. See, Del Rio's gimmick is he's a rich aristocrat. He drives a different super-expensive car to the ring for each match. If he's got the money to afford all those cars, why is he so upset if one gets a little dinged up. He's probably got 15 more!

Cody Rhodes vs Rey Mysterio
A simple vengance match. Good mid-card match.

8-man Tag Match
So it was 2 minutes long, faces win. And in the process, they make the current Intercontinental Champ and the Tag Team Champs look like chumps. Titles buried further. Boooooooooooo

CM Punk vs Randy Orton
A good match with a lousy finish. Punk is a devious heel who is fun to watch. Orton is a boring face who kicks people in the head when they're down, which is classic face behavior (not!). So who wins... Orton with a finisher out of nowhere. Kills an interesting feud.

Jerry Lawler vs. Micheal Cole
Background: Both are commentators. Cole has been a super-heel, attacking Jerry for performing too quickly after his mom died, for being a terrible father, for never wresling at WM despite a long career. Everyone hated Cole. It was a well-done build-up to the match. And it was a simple match to book. Lawler takes punishment and the turns and beats the snot out of Cole, giving both him and the crowd vindication. A simple, but satisfying match. Add Stone Cold to the mix and you're gold... Except the match when too long. And then when Lawler got the win, the General Manager disqualified him after the fact. This was the first sign that the WM was going to downhill. How do you mess up such a simple outcome. And then, when the announcer read the GM's decision, he get's beat up by Lawler and Austin. FACES DO NOT DO THAT!!!

Triple H vs UnderTaker
This was a slow start but finished strong. Undertaker wins and takes the streak to 19-0. Which was the problem with the match, cause no one believed they'd break the streak, particularly when Triple H in a non-kayfabe interview said the streak should never be broke.

US Championship: Daniel Bryan vs. Sheamus
A good match with two solid workers. Which is what I would like to say, but the match was bumped for time. We had time for dumb backstage segments, but not a title match. Title buried.

Mixed Tag:
I went to the bathroom. That's what we do during WWE women's matches. Sorry, but you're going to need more than T&A to put me in a seat. Now put Sara Del Ray in a match and I'll watch... cause she can actually wrestle. And yet strangely, from what I've read on the webs, this match was decent for what it was. And it may have been better than the...

WWE Championship: John Cena vs. The Miz
This match should have been good. It was the Main Event. It had the Rock involved in it. And the match was pedestrian. Cena continues to no-sell moves and earn the ire of any 16+ year old viewer. And then... a double countout. Yes, we're going to end WRESTLEMANIA WITH A DRAW!!!! Nope, the Rock comes out and restarts the match. And immediately interferes and allows The Miz to win. So Miz again can't get a clean win, making him a weak champ. And then the Rock beats up Miz, burying the champ. Yes, the crowd loves the Rock. I love seeing the Rock again. But you just put him over two of your current top workers, including the current Champ.

The show ended with the Rock triumphant. So for those counting, this show buried 4 champions. The biggest show of the year and 4! champions looked like chumps. It was a mediocre show. C grade, which for Wrestlemania is death and pretty much puts me back in the position I was last time I stopped watching WWE.

Let me finish by contrasting another show I watched right before to Wrestlemania. Chikara Pro's 'Reality is Relative' show, which was the DVD of their Season 9 finale. Now Chikara is a small promotion. This event had maybe 100+ in attendance and was held in some community hall. No video packages, no pyro, no celebs. Just 7 solid matches. And at the end, when Team Chikara fought the championship away from the villainous BDK team, I was excited. I was invested in the feud and its outcome. And I only spent $15. I'm thinking of going to a Chikara show. I'm upset at spending the money on WM, not that I just wasted it, but I could have bought 3 Chikara DVDs and got a leagues better experience out of my money.

Evangelion 2.0 - You Can (Not) Advance Thoughts

2010-05-27T06:41:00.000-07:00

So I got ahold of a rip of the Japanese release of the second Evangelion Rebuild movie. For those who don't follow the Anime scene, Neon Genesis Evangelion was a giant robot series from 1995 that combine giant robots fighting outer dimensional beings, interpersonal drama, mystic symbolism and a generous helping of WTFery. In 2006, the production studio Gainax announced they would be reimaging the series into 4 feature length movies, because Eva is a license to print money. The first, Eva 1: You Are (Not) Alone, didn't deviate too much from the existing canon established by the 26-episode series. Movie 2, however, goes off the canon rails almost immediately.

Here be spoilers, you have been warned. Also, dangerous levels of TV Tropes.

New pilot! I think the bestest thing is her name, Mari Illustrious Makinami. Seems to be a Suspiciously Similar Substitute for Asuka. Has a hilarious Engrish segment when she is injected into the plot via orbit.

Speaking of Asuka, the poor girl can not catch a break. Her 'Tough girl learning the lessons of friendship' arc gets stuffed into 20 minutes, making the transisition seems very harsh. Plus she gets her Eva taken away, then gets 'Put on a Bus' because some dope didnt' run a virus check on the new software.

Shinji found his spine, but then loses it... again. Canon must be followed I guess. <cue Spike Spencer 'Word of God' rant.> But he finds it again and triggers the end of the world... again.

Rei finds her personality, but an Angel eatted it.

Oh yeah, and the world ends. 2 movies into a 4 movie series. But don't worry, it gets better.

Final Thoughts: Overall, I'm liking Rebuild better than the original series. Hikeaki Anno, original series director and new project manager, seems less adverse to punishing the characters. The visual facelift really helps in the Angel combat segments, as computer animation allows for some bizarre designs.

Achivements in Gaming : Dec

2010-01-17T10:24:00.000-08:00

A little late. So what happened in December.

At the monthly gaming group, we had our Holiday Game Exchange. I picked up Ghost Stories. My brother Nathaniel came along this time. We played Acquire. I'm beginning to dislike this game. The random tile draw mechanic makes it too to make strategic plays and if you miss the first big merger, you're hosed.

We played game of Starcraft with the Brood War expansion. I lost because I failed to attack the right player at the second to last turn.

At Christmas, I picked up Federation Commander, Arcana, Neuroshima Hex!, and the Rebel vs. Imperium Race for the Galaxy expansion. Nathaniel, my sister Beth and I played Arcana. Despite Beth's numerous complaints of not getting how Arcana works, she still won. Nathanial rolled me in a game of Warhammer Invasion. 3 copies of the costless 'War Paint' card on a single guy really hurts.

On the L5R front, I'm eagerly awaiting the 'The Harbringer' expansion. I'm put my Crane Scout deck aside until it hits for Lion Paragon. Lion Paragon was my favorite deck from Samurai edition. Sadly, it really fails in its current build against other high honor clans.

DnD has been off again, due to holidays. We've got back into the swing and have delved deeper into the ancient minotaur fortress.

On a somewhat sad note, our local gamestore Tomorrow is Yesterday almost went out of business. They've been having severe cash and stock issues over the last 4 months. They weren't going to make it into the new year. Fortunately, one of the Pokemon player's parents, who runs a game store in the Chicago area came to the rescue and bought the store. It's now Top Cut Comics. We've finally had L5R stock in store for the first time in 2 months, which is great. Even better, the first 5 packs I bought got me 4 rares that I needed.

That covers Dec and most of January. Harbringer releases on the 19th and we have our big tournament on the 30th.

Achievements in Gaming: Nov. Edition

2009-12-05T16:13:00.000-08:00

So I'm stealing a segment from the D6 Generation and talking about my gaming for the month.

We'll start with the monthly boardgame day with my old college friends. We started with Memoir '44, playing the intro Pegasus Bridge scenario. M44 goes for historical accuracy, so that scenario heavily favors the Allies. We played the scenario and then switched sides, as recommended. Both times, the Allies won easily. After that, we played a 4 player game of Cosmic Encounter. This was a game I had read about, but needed to play it to really like it. I still lost. We finished off the day by playing Race for the Galaxy, which I won.

I got a good amount of L5R in as well. It was a mixed month, going from being stymied by a Phoenix honor deck at league to going 2-1 at the monthly tournament.

I didn't get to play too much DnD 4E this month. The holidays plus a sick week messed up our schedule. We did make level 6 at least.

Thanksgiving was more like Thanksgaming. My brother and I played 3 games of Wasabi!, a light tile laying game where you try to make sushi recipes. We played 3 games of Warhammer: Invasion. I really like this game, both for its gameplay and it's distribution model. We finished up with a game of Memoir. Then I played some more with my DnD group. We played boardgames since we didn't have a DnD quorum. We played Arcana, a fantasy-themed trick taking game. I played my second game of Chaos in the Old World and got a better feel for the game, even though I still lost as Khrone. We finished the night with a loooooong game of Middle Earth Quest. I like that game, but I really don't have a slot in my game rotation for another 3-4 hour game.

December is wrapping up to be a blast as well, with the Christmas game haul.

Borderlands

2009-11-05T08:31:00.000-08:00

It's awesome. Awesome enough that it's cutting into my WoW time. And that's pretty rare for a game these days.

See, Borderlands hits a lot of the right buttons for me. It mimics the gameplay of Diablo 2, another game I love, only in FPS format. And it doesn't take itself seriously, unlike a lot of shooters these days.

The game oozes color. The desert planet of Pandora evokes a 'Mad Max/Post-apoc' feel. The dialog of the NPCs give it a 'backwater' feel. My one complaint with the environment is the lack of people. So far, I've been to two towns and seen a grand total of 4 people, 6 if you count the ClapTrap bots. I've been spoiled by WoW, which has plenty of 'extras' in a town, enough that it feels like a real town. And I've run into hundreds of bandits so far, so it's not like the game engine can't handle it.

Weapons are another of the game's strong points. Like Diablo, the game uses a mix of weapon types, brands and keywords to generate weapons with different properties. So you end with weapons from the same group have different speeds, accuracy and elemental effects. My favorite has to be Fire. Damage over time, combined with bandit screams of "I'm on fire!" make my day.

Enemies are pretty decent. Bandits actually seem to understand how to use cover. Which in turn forces you to play more strategically. The Headstone Mine encounter gave me several tense moments of rushing between points of cover, putting down enough suppression fire to get the bandits to duck enough so I could pick them off. I would have liked some more variety of enemies encounters.

Multiplayer, again like Diablo, makes the game even more addictive.

Live Blogging the Election!

2008-11-04T15:46:00.000-08:00

5:15 - Voted!
5:30 - Put in MST3K episode 'Manhunt in Space' - 1950's General Hospital is really dull.
7:00 - Hit level 47 in WoW
7:20 - Put in MST3K episode 'Crash of the Moons'
7:25 - Finally got Black Drake Heart after grinding for 1.5 hours!
9:00 - MST3K 'Cave Dwellers' - Bought a bunch of owls at Darnassus
10:06 - Stick a fork in it - This baby's DONE! W00T! I always wanted to be part of history!

Five Years in the Making

2008-09-19T18:53:00.000-07:00

Five years ago, there was a man and a mission. The man, Fred Clark. The mission: Prove that 'Left Behind' was the worst book ever written. Five years later, that task has finished. Give a final hurrah to the task for ripping to shreds one of the worst books in terms of literature and theology.

Hip Hip
http://slacktivist.typepad.com/slacktivist/2008/09/lb-freeze-frame.html

Gencon 2008 - Day 4

2008-08-17T17:19:00.001-07:00

Hey, what happened to Days 2 & 3? I don't blog at 1 am and the internet was acting goofy yesterday.

So...
Day 2 was dealer floor day. Buying stuff and playing demos.

One of my traveling partners played in a 5 hour Legend of the Five Rings battle game. I got to wait.

Day 3:
A short day. I played in this cute Japanese RPG called Meikyu Kingdom. It's set in a world where a wizard turned the entire land into a Dungeon. I was the king of a dungeon nation, the good King Friday the Just. We headed into a forest dungeon to save a young girl who was making the crown for my coronation. It was great because the whole group was awesome. The GM was the designer. Now he was very nervous and had less than stellar English skills, but he still ran an excellent game. The best moment was when then entire group broke into the Final Fantasy theme after winning an encounter.

We finished off the day with an excellent dinner at the Italian restaurant Buca de Beppo and learning secrets at the Legend of the Five Rings seminar.

Day 4 was a quick run through the artist & dealer hall to pick up a last few things.

Gencon 2008 - Day 1

2008-08-14T20:21:00.001-07:00

So the Rockford crew arrived in Indy on Thursday night. Bright and earlier the next day, we hit the convention center to play in the Legend of the Five Rings Qualifier. It was a long day.

Pros:
1) Hanging at Gencon with the L5R peeps

2) Excellent L5R costumers

3) Ate at a great bar/restaurant/library. Woody's Library Restaurant. Well worth the 20 min drive.

Cons:
1) 1 day, only 1 event.
2) Going 3-5. Was doing so good, looked like I would make 500. No such luck.

I close with the little swag I was able to grab.

That would be Legend of the Five Rings 3rd Revised, Legend of the Burning Sands, random WoW CCG, & The Maid RPG

Dungeon Crawling pt.5

2008-07-20T19:06:00.000-07:00

This recap is a combination of two gaming sessions. I wasn't at the second, so GM John provides the second half of the recap. The party comes upon a cache of riches, and new blood joins the group.

Recap after the jump.

D&D Notes - Session 5 & 6

The group continues into the dirt tunnel. In the dark, they stumble upon a screamer mushroom. Summoned by the mushroom's screams, a band of troglodytes attack. Slaying them quickly, the group continues down the tunnel. The tunnel dips and the last portion is filled with muddy water. The tunnel deadends into a large room. A search finds a chest filled with treasure. While resting, Elwin hears voices coming down the tunnel. The group sneaks down one branch of the tunnel. The voices coming from the other branch wonder why the trogs have died and seem to be guarding prisoners.

New characters join the game.Dave is a well-specced Elvish Magic-User/Thief; Chamara is a mid-specced Paladin of Pelor; and Michael is a fighter named Sharpy. The new group were staying at the Slumbering Serpent Inn, having come to Orlane to investigate rumors of strange goings-on that they had heard in Hochoch. Kaets (Dave's character) is snooping in the night when he sees some suspicious behavior. He follows a group of six men who break into the livery-man's home and abduct the man and his family. He then follows the ruffians to the Temple of Merikka, where he is foiled by a locked door.

Returning to the inn for support, Dalee (Chamarra) and Sharpy join him as they return to the temple. A second attempt to open the gates results in their opening, but also in the alerting of the guards, who attack with two wolves. The eight-on-three melee is altered when Lancell and his group emerge from the temple and perceive the combat in the temple yard. Joining the battle, Lancell's group aid Kaets and his friends in putting down the evil-doers, with a particularly spectacular back-stab by Hermes. Then, pausing only for introductions and searching the corpses for valuables (a search that only yields a short-sword for Hermes) the two groups return to the Inn to plan their next move, and to discuss distribution of the treasure won by Lancell's group in the passages under the temple.

Animals of my House

2008-07-18T17:09:00.000-07:00

So my house has been overrun by beasts...

Now this first picture would be cute if I was looking out. But rather, I'm looking into the house.

Second, I've got a new member of the household. Meet the new master of the house.

Dungeon Crawling pt.4

2008-06-17T07:06:00.000-07:00

A moment of silence please. Our first death has occurred. Posthumously, I give Lefty 'Southpaw' Maldekstra the "Don't Touch That" Medal of Honor.

Recap after the jump.

D&D Notes - Session 4

* Goblins ambush the group. Hermes & Jill are sorely wounded.
* A vile torture chamber is found upstairs. Winding through the halls,
a strange script is found groved into the walls.
* In a hidden room, a young girl is found caged. Her name is Circilli.
Freeing her, she tells her tale. Her family was kidnapped by the priests of
the temple, Abramo & Misha. Her parents were 'changed' and released. They
now run the General Store.
* Rescueing her, they leave the temple. On leaving, Lefty feels the need to
steal a golden vegetable. Merika smites him for disrepect. Ignoring the
curse, Lefty attempts to flee and is slain for his disrepect.
* Leaving Jill and Circilli at the Slumbering Serpent, the rest visit the
Mayor. After a short talk, they are directed to a small house with elves.
* The elves are watching the town at request of the mayor.
* The next day, the group finishes exploring the temple's basement. In a maze
of tunnels, a dirt tunnel is found.

On the Dark Eve of 4E, a light shines through

2008-06-05T19:27:00.000-07:00

Through the storms of doom and Internet Nerd Rage, from the cries of "it's not DnD!" and "it's nothing but combat!", comes this gem. A seven year old playing DnD with his dad.

http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?t=397944

My favorite quotes, after D(the child) captures 2 kobolds

Quoth D: "Are you good now?"

>Blink, blink< "Uh ... I don't think we're really ... uh ... good or evil. We're just sorta ... us."

"Oh. Well I've decided you're going to be good."

"But that ... that doesn't actually make us good."

"It will. I believe in you."

Utz! Banzai! St. Louis Kotei Pt 2

2008-06-01T15:52:00.000-07:00

Here's the full recap of the St. Louis Kotei 2008. After a nice, albeit early, drive down, we arrived at the Gateway Center in Collinsville, IL. As I mentioned early, I went 3:4. The decks main problem is its gold scheme. Three of the lost games had serious gold issues. But the deck was fun to play and I only hated one game.

More after the jump.

Game 1: Mike - Crab/Seventh Tower - Loss
Gold screwed. I could hold him off for a few attacks, but then my hand was exhausted and I get rolled.

Game 2: Roger - Lion - Halls of Ancestors - Win
Roger was a nice guy how was playing for fun with the cards he had. Against a deck tuned with power rares, he didn't have a chance. But we both had a fun game.

Game 3: Ling - Spider - The Spider's Lair - Loss
My first game against an L5R forum personality! Gold hates me and I can't defend. But I do learn the origin of the 'WYRMS 4 LIFE' picture. So it's a plus in my book.

Game 4: Josh - Spider - The Spider's Lair - Loss
Similar to the Game 3. Brute Force sucks in the fact that's based of force, but can still be used off bowed (AND technically 0 force) units.

Round 5: Alex - Phoenix - Kyuden Asako - Loss
Let me tell you why I hate dishonor bomb decks. In order to work, they have to be combo decks. Combo decks work by taking a lot of actions in the Limited phase, where your opponent can do very little. So I have to sit and wait, with an army that can clear the board the next turn, and do nothing while he gives me 36 points of honor loss. And then I immediately lose. He might as well have played a card that said 'You lose'. It would have saved me about 5 minutes.

Round 6: Josh - Phoenix - Kyuden Asako - Win
Miltary Lion eats slow honor decks for dinner. om Nom Nom

Round 7: Cameron - Unicorn - Utaku Plains - Win
This was a game you want to end your day with. Slow starts against honor decks is very bad. And against a honor deck with a strong military, it's doomed. But the card kami smiled on me. First, 'A Time of War' hits, limiting his honor gain, giving me several more turns to work. I fight an attrition battle and he settles into a defensive position, content to wait it out and win by honor. There was his mistake. Come the last turn. I had fought a decisive battle on my turn, removing some of the opposition. He crosses 40 honor on his turn. So I will have to take 3 provinces in 1 turn. I split my beefy army into two groups, leaving one province empty. Now this should set off alarms in any player's mind. If I don't take that last province, I lose. Expecting trickery, he doesn't defend and I quickly take both provinces. Well, his hunch was right and I play 'Desperate Wager'. Now I have another battle phase to take that last province. And here his defensive strategy fails. By letting my army go through un-opposed before, I didn't have to expend any resources to take them. He could have defended one province against half my army. Now he had to face the entire army with all it's guns loaded. And I opened up with all cannons. It was a great come from behind game. Made the Kotei well worth it.

Army List: Card Images can be found at l5rsearch.com
Dynasty
Events: 2
A New Wall
In Time of War

Holdings: 12
Private Trader x1
Seat of Power x1
Copper Mine x3
Supply Outpost x3
Kata Training Ground x3
Akodo's Grave x2

Personalities: 6
Utagawa
Ikoma Yasuko Exp
Matsu Yoshino Exp2
Ikoma Otemi Exp2
Akodo Shigetoshi Exp2
Matsu Aoiko Exp

Matsu Yoshifumi x3
Matsu Nao x3
Matsu Robun x3
Akodo Hachigoro x3
Matsu Benika x3
Matsu Yufu x3
Kafu x3

Actions:
Toolbox 5
Superior Strategist x3
Unshakable x2

Shuten Doji's Fury x2
Strength in Certainty x3
Lion's Strength x3
Rapid Deployment x3
A Fortune's Smile x3
Courage x2
Courtesy x2
Compassion x2
Warrior's Courtesy x2
Flanking Assault x1
Desperate Wager x1

Followers 6
Gate Guardsman x3
Sparrow Clan Aid x3

Utz! Banzai! St. Louis Kotei

2008-05-31T02:23:00.000-07:00

So there is a 4:30 am.... man what

I went 3 - 4. Ok day for gaming, but it's always great to meet the L5R peeps.

4E D&D - SERIOUS BUSINESS!!!!

2008-05-28T09:12:00.000-07:00

While I wait and hope I got my order into Buy(we're too stupid to follow release dates).com in time, I've been perusing RPG.Net & ENWorld for 4E teaser threads. And I've come to one conclusion.

4E is SERIOUS BUSINESS!!!

For example:
From 4E DMG -
"Memorable nonplayer characters are best built on stereotype. The subtle nuances of a NPC’s personality are lost on the players. Just don’t rely on the same stereotype for every NPC you make"

Good advice, especially for new GMs. It's not like TV/Movies/Books don't rely of character archetypes... But it leads to this.

"Still, the advice as presented is misleading, judgmental and, not at least, demeaning to many players."

Bwuh?

Or from a thread about the inclusion of some 'non-standard' fantasy races...

"Personally, I can't think of a single classic fantasy story that involved eladrins, tieflings, or dragonborn and I resent them being included in the core races."

What did a tiefling kick your dog, run off with your girlfriend* and steal your truck? Resent?

So remember, RPGs, SERIOUS BUSINESS! In Closing.

Dungeon Crawling pt.3

2008-05-24T08:13:00.000-07:00

Horray, we finally made it to a dungeon! Lancell finally proves that he can do more than go below 0 HP and detect evil! The party looks for proof of evil's corruption and finds it! Evil's stench is so thick you can touch it :-P

Recap after the jump.

* Arriving at the mayor's home, Lancell speaks with the mayor and enters the
home.
* The mayor's sons take custody of the gardener
* After questioning, the mayor gives them two days to bring him concrete proof
of the evil.
* The temple grounds are empty, except for some surly groundkeepers
* The temple is also empty
* Exploring the grounds, a trap door is found. A small dungeon exists beneath
the temple.
* At the end of the dungeon, a stairs if found. It leads up into the
priestess' room. She is slain by Lefty & Lancell. A document of an evil
language is found on her desk. Treasure is taken.
* A bottle of fine wine is found in the study. It has a curious mark on
the cork.
* On the second floor, a group of skeletons is found. Turning them, the group
sets upon them.

Can I haz 4th edition nao? kthxbye

2008-05-22T11:25:00.000-07:00

I wasn't really excited for 4th Edition Dungeons & Dragons. I hadn't played much 3.x and 3.x wasn't really in need of a new edition, in my opinion. It was briefly on my Amazon preorder list until removed by a financial need. Once the financial isues went away, 4th Ed. didn't make it's way back onto the list.

Then I got a hold of a pirate scan of the 4e starter adventure 'Keep on the Shadowfell', complete with quick-play rules and pre-generated characters. And I've caught the bug bigtime. At-Will powers, Minion rules, everything that seems to push D&D fulling into the heroic realm. It takes the best of 3.x, mixes in the best gameplay chances from WoW(heresy, I know) and comes out delicious.

June 6th can't get here soon enough. I guess I'll have to tide myself over reading forums post from people who seem to think 4e will cause all previous versions of D&D fall to dust.

Dungeon Crawling pt.2

2008-05-17T07:36:00.000-07:00

Session 2 of the Greyhawk Game

This night's session had a different feel than the first. We all have settled into our roles and things went a lot smoother. Some of our players couldn't attend, but their characters got picked up by some others.

I continue to be little more than an evil detector, as my paladin can't seem to hit the broadside of a barn. When I have a lower kill count than the mage, some thing's wrong. It could be that my dice curse from Warhammer40k has caught up with me again.

Full recap after the jump

* Lancell sees 3 monks join the evil priestess, who begin
to search the grounds.
* Lancell confronts the monks and begins combat. He is overwhelmed
after killing one.
* Jill reaches the lakeside and summons the others
* The evil monks & priestess retreat in the face of the party.

* The party bring Lancell to The Slumbering Serpent
* A mysterous man makes a strange gesture to Wingnut
* Elwin goes to the sage Ramne in a grove

* At night, Wingnut heals Lancell
* Ramne (and Whiskers the Weasel) & Elwin go to the inn
* Ramne reveals that the town is un-natural. Both the temple & the Golden Grain
are the center of the mystery.
* Wingnut makes the strange gesture to Ramne, who is unnerved.
* Hermes asks him about the gesture. Ramne says they should watch the man who
makes that gesture.

* In the morning, they head to the temple.
* Hermes climbs the wall and sees two of monks, waiting at the guard
* The fighters rush the gate and the monks retreat to the temple building
* Hermes captures the gardener
* Several goblins rush out of the temple building, followed by the priestess
* The group is hard pressed, but Ramne arrives, driving off the goblins
* The group brings the gardener to the mayor, as the constable has been
corrupted.

Dungeon Crawling

2008-05-13T12:42:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday, I played in an Advanced Dungeons & Dragons game. I haven't played AD&D since Junior High, so it was quite a departure from the D&D 3.x games I'm used too. And I had a great time. I got to play with some friends and experience the charm that is AD&D, right down to the slapdash rules and poorly laid-out books. I spent 15 minutes combing the Player's Handbook for my To Hit information before realizing it was in the DM's guide.

The game was definitely an exercise in classic DMing. It went a little slow in parts for my tastes (you know, you don't have to roll for every day of travel if nothing important happens....), but it was still leagues better than the last game I played in.

So here's a brief recap of the session. A band of level 1 adventurers strike out to face a goblin threat. We had Lancell (Paladin, myself), Wingnut(Cleric), Hermes(Thief), Elwin(Ranger), Lefty(Fighter) and Jill(Magic User).

The game starts off as Hermes & Elwin (the GM's kids who had played a previous session) are fleeing from their village, which was the target of a daytime goblin raid. They travel to the nearest walled town, Nardi, where the rest of the characters are in residence. World setting is Greyhawk.

Hopefully this will become a regular feature on this blog.

Full recap after the jump

* Refugees from village arrive in town
* Brother Wingnut (clear) & Lancell meet them at the gate
* Heal village guardian, an NPC ranger
* Meet Hermes(thief) & Elwin(Ranger)
* Refugees enter town
* Visit Wizard's Town & attempt to scry the origins of the goblin raiders
* Wizard's Master attempt to scry & point to scholar of goblins
* Wizard Jill is placed under Lancell's care
* Return to Church

* Hermes & Elwin chat
* Wingnut & Elwin speak with the Rangers

* Lancell gathers the group in the churchyard
* Lancell accepts Hermes & Elwin

* Wingnut searches out the fighter Lefty

* Night falls, as wolves patrol the edge

* Goblins attack as Hokok appears on the horizon
* The party drives them off

* Night falls, Skeletons attack during Wingnut's & Lefty's shift
* Lefty slays both

* The party arrives in Hokok & stay in the church

* Night falls, a strange lizardman attacks
* The party drives it off after Hermes falls. He is healed by
Lancell & Wingnut

* Two zombies are killed on the road

* The party arrives in Orlan
* Lancell & Elwin speak with the constable. The heavly armed constable & company seem evasive. Lancell does not press the issue and leaves.
* The rest investigate the nearby inn (The Golden Grain)

* Elwin & Hermes visit a second inn (The Sleeping Dragon). They learn that
Buzznick, a gnome, was in town but has since disappeared

* Wingnut & Lefty meet a mysterious man, who makes a strange gesture.

* Lancell & Jill visit the local church of Harvest Goddess
* Lancell notices the priestess acting odd and Detects Evil.
* The priestess flees the temple and Lancell guards Jill & leaves the temple
* Lancell instructs Jill to find the others and bring them to the temple. He waits outside the temple grounds.

Lion Dueling - Report 1

2008-05-08T13:45:00.001-07:00

I got two games in with my Lion Dueling deck against a Spider Military/Dark Virtues build. I went 1 - 1 with unexpected results.

Game 1: Win
I don't pull a duel card until turn six or so and don't get a weapon card at all. Yet due to Lion's flexibility due to Tactician and powerful Lion peeps (Akodo Terumoto FTW!), I crush a few provinces and switch to honor. I hold three provinces at the end as Daigotsu appears to no effect.

Game 2: Loss
Three words: Turn Three Daigotsu. I can't duel him. I can't keep him bowed with my Governor's Courts. I can't kill him because of Seat of Power. And I stupidly pitched Shigetoshi a turn too early.

Thoughts:
This deck has some promise. The problem is dealing with people who can't be dueled. Because it is a dueling deck, the deck lacks the suite of powerful actions that Lion normally packs. I'm thinking of pulling Weigh the Cost to drop in a high focus Power action. And maybe run the cheap gempukku peep as a shugenja to get access to Touch of Ice for more control aspects.

Christian Zombies

2008-05-06T09:09:00.000-07:00

Zombies... probably one of my favorite undead types. Who can't love a shambling mound of death. No will, no emotion, just a pure drive and hunger. Brains.....

I like my zombies slow and stupid. The original "Night of the Living Dead" & "Dawn of the Dead" zombies are my favorite movie zombies. Not dangerous until you let your guard down.

Now that being said, I don't think I'll ever want to be a zombie. I like my thoughts and emotions, as well as my skin. So I was slightly disturbed when I read the latest excerpt from Fred Clark's excellent deconstruction of the 'Left Behind' books on Slacktivist. In the comments, here's the quote from the last LB book that got my goat.

"It's bizarre," Chloe told Cameron. "I still love and admire and respect you and want to be near you, but it's as if I've been prescribed some medicine that has cured me of any other distracting feelings." "And somehow that doesn't insult me," Cameron said. "Does my feeling the same offend you?" She shook her head. Her mind, like his, must have been on Jesus and whatever He had for them for the rest of time and eternity."

This isn't uncommon. It seems to be a common theme among certain strains of Christianity. We hit Heaven and boom! We become Godbots, Holy Zombies. No thoughts outside of God, no lives except endless worship.

And I don't like that. First, it seems boring. What's our reward for faithful service? To be brainwiped? I'll pass. Second, it doesn't seem Biblical. Jesus was fully God, yet had emotions and thoughts, doubts and sorrows. It was part of his Humanity. And since Humans are made in God's image, it has to be part of his Divinity as well. And after all, why does Jesus need to build mansions for us if we'll never use them...

All in all, this is a prime example of why 'Left Behind' is dangerous. It takes a literal, non-biblical reading of the 'End Times' and reduces our relationship with God into bland programming. I mean, how can you not be insulted when that relationship is equated to being medicated?

Lion Duel

2008-05-06T08:43:00.000-07:00

A theme deck for the St. Louis Kotei. From the strength of Bushido, the Lion duelists strike out! The basic idea of the deck is to get Sword of Victory onto one of the tacticians (Shinichi is best for province sleezying) and play Impromptu Duel to get an easy 5-6F. Use Duty & Misdirection to keep that peep alive and continue to duel, boosting force. The courtiers(Ikoma Noda & Hodota) are there to play Misdirection, abuse the favor and use some limited lockdown from Governor's Courts. Hopefully, it can win by either Military (primary) or Honor(secondary).

Deck List after the jump.

Hall of Ancestors

Events
A New Wall x1
Favor of the Emerald Champion x1

Holdings
Temple of Gisei Toshi x1
Copper Mine x3
Supply Outpost x3
Governor's Court x3
Famous Bazaar x3
Emerald Competitor x1

Personalities
Akodo Nakama x3
Ikoma Hodota x3
Ikoma Noda x3
Matsu Benika x3
Akodo Shinichi x3
Akodo Seiichi x3
Matsu Benika Exp x1
Akodo Hiroyuki x1
Akodo Shigetoshi Exp x1
Matsu Aoiko x1
Ikoma Yasuko Exp x1
Ikoma Otemi Exp2 x1

Fate
Actions
Superior Strategist x3
Unshakable x2
Impromtu Duel x3
Peasant Vengence x3
First and Final Strike x3
Warrior Challenge x2
Weigh the Cost x3
Heart of Katana Style x3
Courage x2
The Lion's Strength x3
Rapid Deployment x2
Strength in Certainty x2
Duty x2

Items
Gempukku Blade x2
Blade of Victory x2
Tsi Blade x2

Sadoko Cat

2008-04-24T11:54:00.000-07:00

see more crazy cat pics

The Monsanto Goose!

2008-04-11T07:26:00.001-07:00

So two days ago, I get this really strange email from the admin staff at work.

"The building manager has contacted animal control regarding our resident nesting goose. Please do not approach the goose. It will only attack cars."

???

Has some feral goose taken residence outside, terrorizing the IT staff? What happens if the goose gets in the building??! ARE WE DOOMED!?!??! WE ARE!!!!

Nope. We've got two geese outside the main entrance. Momma goose has set up shop in a cement flowerpot outside. Papa goose doesn't like people coming near Momma goose. So ITS has a new member, a family...

Spirit of the Mushroom Kindom

2008-04-08T06:38:00.000-07:00

So I can across this post on RPG.Net on running a Super Mario style game. Various systems where put forward, including Spirit of the Century. Now Spirit of the Century uses FATE 3.0, which is the system I want to build my Zelda-esqe game off of. So I threw together some Mario characters and ran my brother through a short 30min off the cuff Spirit of the Mushroom Kingdom game.

It was pretty fun. The best was coming up with aspects for Mario, Princess Peach and Bowser. I converted a SoTC character sheet made by voidstate into a Mario theme. It still needs some work. I'll post the main characters later.

LOL Creation

2008-04-04T08:33:00.000-07:00

Dear makers of Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed,

Please stop making my religion look stupid.

Your's truly,

Jadarx

Expelled Exposed

My RPG Idea

2008-03-17T09:46:00.000-07:00

The LOZ Role Playing Game
The "Legend of Zelda" RPG

Feature List

Focus on single-player vs dungeon
Competitive
No set game master
Player-driven play
Emulates Zelda, Secret of Mana, Diablo video game play
Supports two player games
Build dungeons/towns on the fly
Players "build" game elements from a pool of points
Quest-driven advancement
Suitable for pick-up or long-term games
Supports 2-5 player

Based off of the Fate 3.0 RPG System SRD

Lion Bushido Bash

2008-03-15T20:44:00.000-07:00

So tonight was our monthly Legend of the Five Rings tournament. Eleven players with a wide range of clans and decktypes, including one of the Top 4 from the Kotei Cruise. So facing 'real' tournament-level decks, what did I play. Lion Bushido Heroes. Deck list will end the post.

So how did it do. Not too well. I went 2-2 with the first win being a bye. My only win came from a new player who doesn't quite have a hang of the game. My first lose went to a Spider Military Dueler. I made a dumb move that cost me my army and I couldn't recover. My second lose went to the Top 4 Phoenix military. Knowing what it did, I swung early. I thought I had tempo going, but on Turn 4, I faced down Shiba Aikune without knowing what the card did. Goodbye army.

Deck Thoughts:
With some more Dynasty-side support, the deck could show some promise. Now of the Lion heroes have a pro-active ability. Couple that with the lack of Fate-side Hero cards, and you have a deck that can't do anything in battle. I think one or two more good Heroes could give the deck a boost without boosting other Hero decks, like Crab. Perhaps a Deathseeker Hero with a built-in 'You Die with Me' type action. Something to target with Duty or Take the Charge.

Deck List after jump

Vigilance Keep

Dynasty:
Events:
Yobanjin Alliance

Regions:
Valley of Heroes x1
Hitso Taeruko x2

Personalities:
Matsu Takeko x3
Matsu Yoshifumi x3
Matsu Ouka x3
Matsu Nao x3
Matsu Yoshino xp2 x1
Ikoma Otemi xp3 x1
Matsu Robun xp2 x1
Akodo Terumoto x3
Akodo Shunori x3

Holdings:
Copper Mine x3
Kata Training Ground x3
Sando Seizo x1
Supply Outpost x3
Venerable Master x3
Seat of Power x1
Lion Adviser x1

Fate:
Actions:
You Die With Me x3
Take the Charge x3
Astonishing Resilience x2
A Legion of One x3
Peasant Vengence x3
Courage x2
Duty x2
Courtesy x2
Respect Among Warriors x2
Peasent Vengance x2
Shuten Doji's Fury x2
Draw Your Blade x2

Followers:
Sparrow Clan Aide x3
Brothers in Arms x3
Brothers in Arms Exp x1

Items:
Gempukku Blade x3
Tsi Blade x3

Florida!

2008-03-03T08:56:00.000-08:00

So I just got back from Florida. Having to return to 30 degree and snowy weather from sunny and 70's is pretty harsh. But the good memories I have are worth it. Let me introduce Bruce, my bird buddy. He was quite gutsy for a simple-minded seagull. I hope you enjoyed those chips, Bruce.

On the RPG front, I got to GM a game of Agon. It was a single player game with my younger brother. Agon is a very simple and fun game. It does fall apart a little when you only have one player. You don't get any PC oaths. This limits the amount of help an individual character can call for. Combat also gets a bit monotonous when there is only one GM antagonist. But still a fun game. I reenacted the myth of the kidnapping of Persephone. My brother made his way down through the underword, sneaking past Cerebus with a song. He then went mano-e-mano with Hades, beating the god and returning Persphone to the surface. But I was a sneaky git and burned my last two Strife points to boost a last minute contest and had Hades sneak some pomegranate seeds to Persephone. So Persephone had to stay with Hades for half the year. A minor victory for the GM!

Gencon 2007

2007-09-04T10:48:00.000-07:00

So I'll kick off my first real blog post with a Gencon 2007 recap.

First the bad. I got no sleep Friday night. So I wandered the con on Saturday in a bit of a daze. Since I wasn't feeling well, I didn't do much beyond buying stuff. So I pretty much spent all my cash by Friday. So I didn't go back on Sunday at all. Which in hindsight, was dumb. Oh well.

The good. I don't want to make it sound like my Gencon experience sucked. It was still a fun time. I got to meet up with all the crazies from the L5R community. I still feel like I'm five when I walk into the main hall. And I spent money... oh did I spend money. My money got split between the "indie" RPG booth and Artist's alley. White Wolf and AEG came away with a good chunk as well. I still haven't finished reading all my purchases.

Next Year's Goals: Leave on Thursday. Having one more day hopefully will avoid the sickness hickup. Bring my brother.

******* Unrelated Note *******
I just finished watching Final Fantasy: Advent Children again. And I have two new heroes: Reno & Rude. While Cloud spends most of the movie being emo, these two are getting things done. And they're hopelessly outclassed and they know it. But it doesn't stop them from fighting and cracking wise.

The Wandering Ronin sets forth...

2007-09-04T10:27:00.000-07:00

So I've decided to start a blog. MySpace offends my eyes as an amateur web designer and I tire of the constant porn spam. So onto something a bit more controlled.

For those who don't speak Japanese, monogatari mean story. So Jadarx No Monogatari is a fancy way for me to say "wax nonsensically about my life.