Musings on creation

ABStocking@gmail.com — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 13:44:59 GMT

Your Ultimate Roleplaying Purity Score
Category	Your Score	Average
Hacklust	48.11% Will kill for XP	53.6%
Sensitive Roleplaying	10.13% There is no player. There is only.... Zuul.	54.7%
GM Experience	31.16% Closer to a novel than to a campaign	69.3%
Systems Knowledge	65.54% Local rules guru	90.4%
Livin' La Vida Dorka	16.09% Gaming is my life	63.3%
You are 37.76% pure Average Score: 68.8%
Take The Ultimate Roleplaying Purity Test and see how you match up! (By The Ferrett)

Man, I thought I'd do better on the rules section but I hadn't even heard of about half of the systems they listed, I obviously need to get to work on this. Alos assumed that Hacklust would be more pronounced (mt gaming group before Beloit was the most power gamery, hack-n-slash group ever.)

Stories and Philosophy

ABStocking@gmail.com — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 05:13:28 GMT

Time for a substantial post, or at least what passes for substantial these days.

I have taken up writing, mostly as a creative outlet, but partly as a way to track the progression of my thoughts. The first part of that, the outlet, is being done by writing fiction (fantasy mostly) that has been in my head for years. It is funny how some things are location based. I had this whole world that I had created in High school that I almost completely forgot once I went to college, but now I’m back here and the desire to actually write this stuff down has been good for me. When I first got back I spent a lot of my time making characters for games that I would never play in, coming up with situations that they would face and what-not, then I realized that these characters were far more interesting if I started from those interactions instead of the character sheet. And with writing I have sole discretion, so these scenes can play out exactly as I saw them, without the need to be fair to other characters or any other consideration.

The second part of my desire to write, the need to follow a train of thought has been brought on by the desire to write philosophy. Or to at least put down my moral and ethical views in a coherent manner. I decided long ago that if I were ever to write something like this I would avoid at all costs the errors of Kant. Specifically the utter uselessness of his ethics. I wanted ethics that could work in the real word, otherwise why even bother. And so I have started to write of my philosophies down. This was prompted by my Father who asked me one day how I would define living a responsible life, a question which has many seemingly simple answers, but, in totality, is a damnably hard question.

Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2

ABStocking@gmail.com — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 17:58:46 GMT

So let me start off by saying that I really enjoyed the first game in this series. This sequel fails to meet the high expectations set forth by that game. Right off the bat, only 2 players can play together, so no more 4 player fun. Net it has a very weird relationship to the comics. The first two acts are directly out of the Secret Wars series, and then it progresses very loyally into the opening battles of the civil war. And then halfway through a very well duplicated scene from the comics (the chemical plant ambush) the game suddenly dives off into a different direction. And never returns. It is very jarring when it goes from very loyally cannon to suddenly completely new content.

As for the gameplay itself, most of the changes were improvements (except for the only 2 player thing). The new Fusion Mechanic is awesome, with new and interesting effects that replace the x=treme powers. Also they finally added in passive powers, so now Luke Cage doesn’t need a temporary boost to have good soak. All characters have at least 2 passive powers, many of which are very, very useful. Other than that the gameplay is pretty much like that of MUA 1.
The most infuriating thing about the game is the fact that you can, like me, manage to get through the entire game without unlocking any of the unlockable characters. I had to buy the strategy guide to find out how to unlock the characters (make sure to talk to everyone in all of the bases, even if you talked to them before the briefing!). One of the great bits of flavor in this game, at least for me, is the fact that deadpool completely breaks the fourth wall (“Oh, the new fusion mechanic, we should have put that in the title” and “I never should have left my comic book” as well as “Player, don’t you dare let me die” when low on health).

From reading the strategy guide I found out something very interesting, There are actually two different versions of this game. One for PS2, PSP, and Wii (although the wii version allows 4 players). A separate version of the game for PS3 and Xbox 360. And I don’t just mean different characters available, I mean that the battles and plot lines are slightly different, with different bosses. Not to mention that fusions apparently work very differently, and the game doesn’t have save points. Also all of the character’s power-set-ups have been completely redone. From what I can tell the PS3 version is dramatically better than the PS2 version.

Notice

ABStocking@gmail.com — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 20:31:19 GMT

fo anyone who might be trying to get in contact with me between now and Friday: I am not going to have access to the internet until I am home again, aside from the library, so email and LJ are far from the best ways to get a hold of me.

Sigh, I may have to stop reading Marvel comics out of Principle

ABStocking@gmail.com — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 07:34:13 GMT

They just announced that they are doing something that they swore they would not do: They are bringing Steve Rogers back. And not even clone Cap, or anything like that, just cap resurrected. I had hoped that something billed as such a pivotal moment in 616 would stay that way. On one hand I uttery reject that the one person they promised would stay dead will come back, on the other, from how they are spinning this it seems like it may very well spell the end to Dark Reign.

New Email

ABStocking@gmail.com — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 01:47:56 GMT

so since I'm all graduated and stuff, the college has taken back the email account they gave me, to this end if any of you wonderful people want to email me, my new email address is: ABStocking@gmail.com.

Blarg.

ABStocking@gmail.com — Tue, 12 May 2009 03:50:53 GMT

Today has not been a good day. Due to back pain and insomnia I had only 3 hours of sleep, then I had work for 5 hours, wich would have been fine if I had a few more days worth of warning that the summer hours were starting before finals ended. So it was off to a bad start and has only gotten worse. last night I had found out that I had missed a final deadline on a paper with a no extensions policy, but I figured that my good grade in the class would carry through as a low C even after the -10% for missing t5he final. Then tonight I get an email saying that the actual deadline was in fact today, I missed it and that due to this I would fail the course. I am a bit angry at this because I had stopped working once I realized that I had missed the no late papers mark, and concentrated on my other finals. This email was a double surprise, it A) told me I had more time than the sylibus and moodle said I had so I could actually have done the paper, and B) nowhere was it mentioned that failing to turn in the paper would mean failing the class.

The worst part of this is the fact that other than a bit of anger at the situation I can't bring myself to care about this. Right now is not a good time for me. There are some things going on back home that have me rather deeply depressed and I find I really can't muster any enthusiasm for school right now. I don't need any of my current classes for graduation, and my GPA is already shitty, but not shitty enough that I am in danger of not graduating. Basically I have realized that I could fail every single class right now and it would have no significant impact on my life. Because of this I have the persistent feeling that everything I am doing now is meaningless.

I have completely finished the finals of two of my three remaining classes, and intend to wake up early tomorrow to finish off the last one, I'm not going to completely give up on my schoolwork, but this is mostly out of respect for the teachers and a sense of duty, not for grades or knowledge. I never thought that I would be ready to leave Beloit, but I really am. I can't wait to be done with all this shit. I would like to spend the next few weeks hanging out with my friends and enjoying their company in the little time I have remaining, but I am easily irritated these days and have basically just holed myself up in my room. I am hoping that summer will help with these feelings, despite it being out of character I could do with some sun and a nice happy glorious day.

I want to find something I care about doing, something that is more than simply going on. I am for the first time really debating whether to move to madison at the end of the summer or to go off somewhere new. I have felt that I am not ready to move on, and in all reality I am not ready for adult life, but I don't want to keep going judt because I'm afraid of the alternatives. In all honesty I probably should have graduated at the semester break and not finished out the last semester. I have greatly enjoyed the time spent with my friends, and learned a bit more about myself, but not enough to justify the money spent on this semester here.

The CIA wishes to trade brick for wood

ABStocking@gmail.com — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 15:49:35 GMT

Man, playing way too much settlers plus reading a like amount of Tom Clancy combined with only 3 hours of sleep makes for some really fucked up dreams.

I like computer games

ABStocking@gmail.com — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 14:35:05 GMT

So my entire evening (and night, and morning...) has been eaten up by playing a new game called the babylon project. The game is one of th3e best space combat sims I've seen, set in the Babylon 5 universe. It is entirely built out of the freespace 2 code, wich was publicly released to modders. Because of the original publishers releasing this code this game is fully legally available for free download off of its' website (if you are interested just Google the Babylon project). I have a lot of respect for any space sim where you can rotate your ship independently from your line of travel. Anyway, if you are a B5 fan and looking for a good, free game, you should look into this.

I'm enjoying life (a general update)

ABStocking@gmail.com — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 07:39:39 GMT

Today has been a very good day. I woke up around 3:20, and walked with Claudia to Save-a-lot, which was a pleasant walk. There I got enough food to last me quite a while, and all for around $15. that is for 10 meals plus assorted snacks, all for such a low amount, which made me happy. I needed to spend another buck on a bag (they don’t actually have plastic bags, which was a bit of a surprise) but the bag is actually pretty good quality for $1.

Then there was Housing committee elections. Elections this years went very smoothly, despite having 20 people initially nominated, which dropped down to 15 in very short order. We finished elections in under an hour, which is nearly miraculous. In the end we have a very good Housing Committee: Karis, Maggie, Tanya, Jeremiah, Justin, Kristen, Chris and myself.

Then there was some hanging out and talking about who would likely be applying to live in house, which always engages the puzzle part of my brain and is therefore fun. After that I read comics and the topic of conversation drifted to a variety of topics. Now, for the first time this semester, I am feeling tired and sleepy at the proper time on a Sunday. I should be able to get a good night’s sleep tonight. On that note, I should get to bed.

Ok, so my day so far:

ABStocking@gmail.com — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 14:14:36 GMT

12:00 AM: get out of Exalted, proceed to sit in lounge and talk about the game, as we are wont to do.

2:30 AM: Most everyone has left, but Robbie and I continue to talk about an ever increasing variety of topics.

4:00 AM: Robbie goes upstairs. At this point I remember that instead of needing to get up at 11 like I usually do (and would have gotten 7 hours of sleep), I need to get up at 7, and as such cannot get enough sleep so an all nighter it is.

7:15 AM go to breakfast.

8:00 show up to work. Discover that the person who gave me her hours had actually already given them to someone else, and that I could have slept in till 11.

It is currently 8:13 and I already hate the day.

Might as well do this meme.

ABStocking@gmail.com — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 21:36:18 GMT

When we role-play, we tend to pick up a variety of characters. They could be ones that we like, ones that we want to experiment with, or ones that we just end up making from scratch. Eventually, we come to associate with (some of) them in one way or another. Out of all the characters (past or present) I role-play, pick out the one I am most like and tell me why you think so. (And hey, add on any interesting insights you've got into the types of characters I play, similarities between them, and whether they can imply anything interesting about me as a person).

Changeling:
Ashan - An evil Eshu who looked like an angel. Was a manipulative bastard who cloaked every underhanded thing he did with the story of a torrid gay romance, because it made people uncomfortable and they stopped asking questions. Had the flaw "Dark Sercet: Not Gay"

D&D:
Lucanis Marathesian - A thoroughly evil and somewhat insane warlock who eventually became a lich and then ascended to godhood.

Aberrant:
Fitz - would have been a member of the Teragen if they existed in the world of that game.
Kenshi Yoshida - a mega int gadgeteer who has continuously upgraded himself with technological equivalents to many powers.

Exalted:
Satoshi - a low compassion chosen of endings, fully believed that the ends justified the means.
Tenaka - a night caste who did everything a night caste is supposed to do, only through sorcery and thaumaturgy.

7th Sea:
Fareem Al'Marikk - Die kruritter phantom guard who fell in love with every pretty woman encountered in the adventure. Had a thing for using various types of poisons. Masqueraded as a religious peot.

Vampire: The Masquerade:
Haji - Settite Sorcerer who ended up insanely powerful. Was the evil half of the Egyptian siblings in the LARP 2 years ago. He believed that he was liberating those he corrupted from the chains of slavery.
Kai - Coyote gangrel who rebelled against every authority figgure he ever saw. Also, he tore people's faces off when they were evil.

Mage: The Awakening:
Felix - An Acanthus lawyer who tried to right injustices with curses.

General Update.

ABStocking@gmail.com — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 00:54:16 GMT

It’s been over a month since I posted anything to this journal, huh. Oh well. Home is pretty nice actually, which is a bit of a surprise. I’m usually sick and tired of living with my folks by now. This winter I’m just content to be sitting around reading/futzing with characters/playing computer games. We have had glorious weather, including a snowstorm that left 4 feet of snow in some drifts. As a related note I had forgotten how heavy snow is, it looks light a fluffy, but a good snow-shovel full is nothing to laugh at. Today was an oddity for me, I went to two social events.

Event 1 was a D&D game that I stopped by at. The game crew these days contain only 3 people I know, only 1 I know well, and their games are crap-tastic. Someone I didn’t know was running the game, and they were very obviously just reading the description in a dull monotone voice, everyone looked bored and were glad for an opportunity to chat with me. I left after a short while as the GM was glaring at me.

Event 2 was a neighborhood party. The youngest person there besides me was 50 or so. I left after 45 minutes and having the same conversation with 6 people.

While I’m pretty happy here I do miss folks from Beloit. I miss the company, as well as the game and game talk. In the meantime I am doing some things that could be seen as preparing for school, which keeps me sane. I’ve been plotting for my games, all three of them, as well as lamenting the games I cannot run. I have a number of ideas that I really want to run, but frankly don’t have the time (running three games is more than enough).

Games I want to run
Shadowrun: Good Guys (the PCs would be a fast response Lonestar or Knight Errant team).

A Game of Thrones

Aberrant: The Directive

Trinity

Pendragon: the Winter King (based off the books by Bernard Cornwell)

Scion

An unfortunate number of games that I won’t get to run while at Beloit.

I’ve been loving the internet speed here, when I started writing this post I had just started downloading 7 D&D books, and they just finished. I’ve been using this shamelessly to download comics, and have been reading all the current ones as fast as they come in. there are some awesome new comics around, including a run on volume 5 of iron man that is doing its’ best to turn Tony into a hero again.

On a related note, I forgot my mouse in Beloit, so I left off playing ultimate Alliance, but then I saw a PS2 version on sale for $5 and grabbed it. I do love that game, and wish to share that love with other BSFFAs who might well get a kick out of playing some of their favorite marvel characters like Deadpool, Iron Man, Luke Cage, Spidy, Cap, Nick Fury, and the Silver Surfer. To the end of maybe playing this at Beloit, I have been playing through with the express purpose of unlocking everything in the entire game, including alternate costumes. So far I’m 4/5 through the game and have unlocked every character you can before finishing the game, as well as all but 1 costume for all of those characters, still working on unlocking the final Mrs. Marvel costume, but I’m really enjoying the game. It has some issues, in that some characters are just worse then others (although that is realistic for the Marvel universe). I feel strongly enough about this game to write a review, which will happen once I finish the game.

That is about all I’ve got to report. Hope all of you are enjoying the holiday break.

EDIT: add a 4th edition forgotten realm game to the list. I just read the Forgotten realms book for 4th ed and it is great.

A note to those of us who were voicing our complaints about LARP...

ABStocking@gmail.com — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 09:06:59 GMT

I went and talked to the STs tonight and it did actually help put my mind at ease about several issues. I'm not completely satisfied, as much more of the shit we are dealing with is PC driven then I had thought and they obviously have no control over that stuff. That being said I do feel better about LARP having talked to the STs about the problems I have been having, and I urge you to do the same. I will freely admit I was among several of us who mentioned dropping LARP due to being unhappy with it. Then I realized that if we don't bring our concerns to the STs and then drop LARP because we are not happy, that would definitely fall into the category of passive aggressive behavior, and none of us want to be there. So please, those of you who felt as I did, go talk to them, if you are not having fun talking to them can't hurt and it might help make the game more fun, which is kinda he point of the game.

for those of you who haven't heard it.

ABStocking@gmail.com — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 05:12:06 GMT

Sarah Palin prank call

So, Chris asked all us LARPers do take this quiz...

ABStocking@gmail.com — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 21:38:46 GMT

You Are a Witch (or Warlock)

You are deviously brilliant and a perfect manipulator.

You somehow always end up getting what you want - without anyone knowing you're working behind the scenes.

Crafty and cunning, you can work your way out of any jam.

And it's easy for you to get people to do what you want, whether you're working for good or evil.

Your greatest power: Mind control

Your greatest weakness: Making people your puppets

You play well with: Ghosts

What Kind of Monster Are You?

This Walloween should be awesome

ABStocking@gmail.com — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 23:49:30 GMT

So I usually put off thinking about a Halloween costume until the last minute. But this year there is a plan. And that plan is the Avengers Initiative. It all started when Indy made an arc reactor heart, and now we have a large group costuming as the Avengers. So far we have:
Indy: Tony Stark
Andy: The Mighty Thor
Claudia: Captain America
Nick: Beast
Abe: either hawkeye or ant-man
Chris: Hulkling
Robbie: Loki (Ok, not an Avenger, but he is the founding Villain)

This should be hilarious.

Analysis and Ranking of L5R schools

ABStocking@gmail.com — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 23:44:18 GMT

So, I decided to do a write up of the L5R schools just like I did for 7th Sea, as such here it is. This post will just cover the bushi. The next post will cover scouts and ninja. The one after that will be Courtiers, then shugenja/other.

As a note, so far this just covers the Bushi schools in the Core book. I will later be adding in the supplements.

Key
FR = Free Raise
HR = Honor Rank
Rank = insight rank
School = school rank
Air = Air Ring
Water = Water Ring
Earth = Earth Ring
Fire = Fire Ring
Void = Void Ring

9.5
Name: Yoritomo Bushi
This is possibly the most terrifying school out there. It has no defense bonuses per see, but it does negate all of your difficult terrain penalties while they keep theirs. With propor positioning this can be just as good as a defense bonus. This school is terrifying because it can do more damage than any other school in the game. A low end XP character who has reached rank 5 can be doing 10K10+50 or so damage. And even at beginning character levels capable of terrifying amounts of damage.
Clan: Mantis
Rank 1: no duel wielding penalties for 2 kama. Ignore terrain penalties of [5 x school] or less. +[water] to damage.
Rank 2: May throw weapons 20 feet adding +0K1 to the damage. May subtract 1K0 from damage to add 0K1, may do this any number of times. (7K2 can become 5K4).
Rank 3: +1 Attack. +1FR for knockdown. +[school] to knockdown attempts.
Rank 4: double all circumstance bonuses. +1FR on all attacks that can only be used to gain more attacks.
Rank 5: may take -1attack while in full attack to triple strength for purposes of damage.
How to use it: Your damage can be terrifying, and you can use dirty tricks pretty well. Take chain weapons. Have a kusarigama, as it is just a kama with a chain on the end. Use it for knockdown, then use the free grapple attempt that chain weapons gives you. Then proceed to pummel them with your kama once they are immobilized. Or if you are in a rush just tear them apart with the immense amounts of damage this school is capable of.
How to beat it: Well, this school has no defense boost and its’ ultimate technique can only be used in full attack. So if you can get in close go for it. But keep in mind that this school is even more viscious in attack then Matsu, and can turn anything into a ranged weapon. All in all one of the best bushi schools out there.
Recommended Advantages: Storm Kama is a must, it is only 4 points, but adds 3K0 to the DR of the weapon. Large is also handy. (storm kama 3K2, + off hand kama bonus 1K1, + strength 3 + large = 8K3 at character gen.)
Recommended Family: Yoritomo, the Strength is critical
9.3
Name: Mirumoto Bushi
This is one of the best melee schools in the game, with a potentially staggering number of attacks, as well as offensive and defensive bonuses, this is far and away the most attacks available from any school, as well as one of the most effective schools.
Clan: Dragon
Rank 1: no penalties for 2 weapons, =[5+school] to TN to be hit. +[fire] to attack. Can use kenjutsu instead of iaijutsu.
Rank 2: +1 Attack. +[earth] to TN to be hit.
Rank 3: +[2 x fire] to attack (replaces 1). + or – 5 tp the TN of any spell cast on you. And [school] times per day you may make a contested void roll, if you win, your opponent losses their next action. Also, whenever you focus in a duel, you may spend a VP to subtract one from the number of times your opponent may focus.
Rank 4: +[2 x earth] to TN to be hit (replaces 2). If you kill an opponent you gain another attack this round.
Rank 5: +1 attack. +[3 x fire] to all attacks (replaces 3)
How to use it: Attack, attack and keep attacking. If you win initiative against a lone opponent (or several weaker ones) and go full attack, you may well kill everything before it can move. With 3+ attacks each turn and the ability to cause your opponents to lose theirs, this is a damned good combat school.
How to beat it: Tricks and surprises are the best way to deal with this school, some of their abilities don’t work if they only have one sword, so use disarm to make them spend actions picking up their sword. Where possible use range and surprise to your advantage, do not attempt to take this one straight up unless you are a hida bushi or yoritomo bushi.
Recommended Advantages: [twin sister blades] more bonuses to TN, as well as additional damage never hurt anyone (except your opponant).
Recommended Family: Mirumoto is always the right choice, you want to start with your agility at 4.

9.0
Name: Bayushi Bushi
Ahh, the master of the dirty tricks. Not only does the bayushi school make frequent use of many of these, they probably invented most of them. This is not a school where you simply attack them and do damage, this is not a school for soaking up damage. This school is for those who want to dance around their opponents while misdirecting them at every turn.
Clan: Scorpion
Rank 1: +[school]K0 to initiative. Immune to combat reflexes. +5 TN to be hit against anyone with a lower initiative.
Rank 2: a feint grants 2 FRs instead of 1. if someone attacks you and misses you gain [air] FRs on your attacks against them before their next action.
Rank 3: +1 FR to attack for called shot, disarm, or knockdown. Opponents take a -1K1 penalty to resist disarm, if you make 2 additional raises you can end up holding the weapon.
Rank 4: +1 attack. +10 TN to be hit against anyone with a lower initiative. (replaces 1)
Rank 5: you now declare how many raises you are making after you roll. You can also determine if the attack is a called shot, disarm or knockdown after you roll. In addition, opponents must make an additional 2 raises to do a called shot, disarm or knockdown on you.
How to use it: use those dirty tricks! Especially once you start getting bonuses for them. Almost any opponent is much less scary once they are on their backside and their sword is 20 feet away.
How to beat it: Well it defiantly helps to win initiative, but aside from that there isn’t that much to do here. A very high strength might make the disarm shots fail, and then just hit them really hard.
Recommended Advantages: Quick. Combat reflexes. Shosuro blade.
Recommended Family: Bayushi, the agility boost is really needed.

Ronin schools:
One thing to note here is that with the way school skills work, ronin can start out with by far the highest skills. It is entirely possible for a ronin to start out with Kenjtsu 6, it would cost 11 points, but might be worth it.

8.3
Name: Ronin Duelist.
Actually a damn good school especially for a ronin school. Ironically this school also makes one of the best assassin schools in existence. The study ability is so bloody useful, especially in a court style game that this school actually ranks above many of the other clan schools.
Rank 1: +[2 x agility] to initiative.
Rank 2: may study an opponent for any number of rounds (focusing counts as study), for each round spent studying you gain +1K0 on all attacks for the rest of the day against him. This may be used while on full defense
Rank 3: +1 attack.
Rank 4: rank2 2 technique now adds +1K1 per round studied.
Rank 5: if you study an opponent for a number of rounds equal to their rank you may then make a single attack. If the attack hit, make a contested void roll. If you win they are instantly reduced to the down rank. This may not be used on someone with a higher insight rank then you.
How to use it: Well, once you get to rank 2 stay on defense as long as possible, and I do mean full defense. It may be frustrating, but then when you unleash an attack that is rolling 10K10+20 or so it will all be worth it.
How to beat it: don’t let them wait it out. Kill them fast, use dirty tricks to force them to take some action other then study, knock them down, disarm them, whatever it takes, the longer they get to study you, the more dangerous they get.
Recommended Advantages: none.

7.8
Name: Akodo Bushi
A pretty good school, no glaring weaknesses, and considerable offense bonuse (+3xwater and +2HR at 5) This school is very good at offense but has almost nothing in terms of defense, not even a boost to TN, nada.
Clan: Lion
Rank 1: either ignore armor or +1 FR. +1 FR on first attack or against someone who raised against you in the last turn. +[water] to damage and contested battle rolls
Rank 2: + [2 x HR] to either attack or damage. May spend a VP and make an honor roll, even if you have already made your honor roll for the scene. In addition: Halve any honor loss.
Rank 3: +[2 x water] to damage and contested battle rolls (replaces 1). +1 Attack.
Rank 4: +[2 x HR] to attack and damage at all times (replaces 2). For 2 raises may negate the effects of full defense.
Rank 5: +[3 x water] to all damage and contested battle rolls. Also, if you miss a melee attack because of the raises you made, but beat the original TN, your attack hits with no raises.
How to use it: fairly simple, no real complex techniques, don’t get too overeager and rush into something you can’t win.
How to beat it: well, there is no defensive aspect to this school, if they leave themselves open, punish them for it, if they declare full attack, pray to god they miss and then you get to eviscerate them. Also, this is a very good school to apply dirty tricks like knockdown and chain grapples to.
Recommended Advantages: Large (for damage), also, buy up your honor, for 3 character points you can have honor 4, just think ahead to when you will be adding 8 to all attack and damage rolls.
Recommended Family: Akodo or Matsu, pad that water ring.

7.0
Name: Utaku Battle Maiden
Here is where the grace in riding comes in, where a Moto uses force, the Utaku uses skill and finesse. These riders forge a bond with their mount which allows the two to move as one. This school produces many of the finest riders in Rokugan.
Clan: Unicorn
Rank 1: +[water] to TN. Choose 3 school bugei skills, you gain +1K0 to those skills at all times, +1K1 while mounted.
Rank 2: +[air] to attacks. May exchange your initiative and TN to be hit for a round.
Rank 3: +1 attack. If you kill someone +1 more attack this round (max of 3 attacks total). +[2 x water] to TN to be hit (replaces 1).
Rank 4: +[2 x air] to attack (replaces 2). You may reroll any dice in a bugei skill that comes up with a number less then the trait used in the roll. You must accept the new result.
Rank 5: +[3 x water] to TN (replaces 3). may spend a void point to add your honor rank to each die used in one roll.
How to use it: well, get a horse. Keep that horse safe. You have a good mix of offensive and defensive abilities, many of which can be used on foot, but are much better on horseback.
How to beat it: Well, killing the horse is an option and will force them to lose a kept die on some rolls, but other then that they can fight on foot just fine. This is a straightforward school, so use not straightforward attacks. Disarming someone is a good tactic if they have to dismount to retrieve their weapon, and knockdown off a horse is a bitch.
Recommended Advantages: none.
Recommended Family: Utaku.

6.5
Name: Kakita Bushi
Clan: Crane
Do you want to be the best duelist in the world? If the answer to that question is yes then this is most likely the school you want. This, the Mirumoto Sword master, and the Shiba duelist Path, are the 3 best iaijutsu schools by far.
Rank 1: Can always use Iaijutsu instead of Kenjutsu. +[2x Iaijutsu] to initiative. +1 focus.
Rank 2: +1 FR for every 10 points by which you beat their initiative. +[your HR – their HR] focuses.
Rank 3: +[HR] in VP that can only be used in a duel. When you hit someone with a lower initiative they take a +10 penalty to their TNs for next attack.
Rank 4: +1 Attack. +[2x Fire] to all attacks
Rank 5: +1K1 to first attack for every 10 points by which you beat their initiative. In a duel make a contested Void roll, for every 5 points by which you win, they don’t learn one fact about you in the scrutiny phase.
How to use it: Well, get into iaijutsu duels. While not completely helpless in a real fight, this school is meant for polite dueling and not much more. Not much here in the way of defense, and not too much offensive help either. Basically you need to beat their imitative at almost any cost. Then slice them away. Also, buy up reflexes as much as humanly possible.
How to beat it: don’t let them win initiative. If you can take that away then they are left with a meager +2x fire to attacks as all the benefits of the school. If you can beat their initiative, you have already won the fight.
Recommended Advantages: Quick , Combat Reflexes (absolutely critical), Kakita blade (4k2 katana adds 1k1 to all attack rolls).
Recommended Family: Diadoji, the family and school bonuses stack starting you off with a damn healthy reflexes of 4, and since Iaijutsu uses reflexes to attack… You have a good offense and defense al with one stat, not to mention more dice on initiative.

6.3
Name: Shiba Bushi
In a number of ways this school is emblematic of the phoenix as a whole. Defense oriented instead of aggressive, protective instead of offensive, and works damn well in groups. Not to mention spiritually advanced.
Clan: Phoenix.
Rank 1: +[void] to one of: TN, attack, damage. May spend any number of void points on any action.
Rank 2: + or – 5 to magic TNs. +[school] FRs to attack that can only be used for guard another actions. When you guard another, you share their TN bonus.
Rank 3: +1 Attack. +[2 x air] to TN.
Rank 4: +[2 x void] to one of: TN, attack, damage (replaces 1). When someone spends a VP within 50 feet of you make a contested void roll, if you win you regain one VP. You do not know who spent the VP or why it was spent.
Rank 5: when you spend a VP instead of 1K1 it adds either: 2K2, 1K3, 0K4, 3K1, or 4K0.
How to use it: Fight with a friend, specifically fight with another shiba bushi if you can. With shared TNs you can pretty easily get TNs in the 60s, which is practically impossible. This school gives many more defensive boosts then the average school, use that to your advantage. You don’t need to do a lot of damage each hit, as long as they simply cannot hit you.
How to beat it: Separate them from anyone who they might want to guard, and don’t spend void points. If they are rank 5, they effectively gain 2 for each one you spend, not a good ratio for you.
Recommended Advantages:
Recommended Family: it doesn’t really matter, none of the phoenix families give a good bonus to this school.

5.7
Name: Hida Bushi
Clan: Crab
A mediocre school, it can take damage better than anything else, but cannot actually dish it out in huge amounts. It is a decently rounded school, some offensive bonuses, some defensive bonuses and some special abilities.
Rank 1: +[earth] to attack and damage, no penalty for heavy armor
Rank 2: +[school] to earth for knockdown, can spend VP to not take some damage
Rank 3: +1 attack, +2VP that can only be spent on rank 2 and 4 abilities
Rank 4: double armor bonus, if wounded: +1K1 attack and damage against the attacker
Rank 5: double wound points. May spend a void point to ignore wounds, +1 VP that can be used on 2 or 5
How to use it: This style is fairly simple to use, wear heavy armor and then procede to hit them (preferably with a heavy weapon) while shrugging off the blows. Don’t save up your uses of the level 2 ability, you may not make the higher TNs, and those smaller wounds do eventually add up. Combine your defensive abilities with the increased damage of a heavy weapon and you should be in decent shape.
How to beat it: Well, this is a tough one. Some schools you can stop dead with the right strategy, but this one doesn’t rely on any tricks, it just relies on surviving more punishment then the other guy. My advice would be to use those sneaky complex tricks, as this school isn’t really prepared to deal with them, boost your TN so they can’t hit you, disarm then, use a chain weapon to grapple them (doable even with the bonus against knockdown) or pepper them with arrows. better yet, tell the hida that the guys over there just called his mother a whore.
Recommended Advantages: Large, strength of the earth (don’t want to be taking wound penalties there do we?).
Recommended Family: Hida, more strength = better.

5.0
Name: Diadoji Harrier.
I’m not sure why this school isn’t a ninja or a scout school, but it is a bushi school so here it is. A pretty good scout/assassin school, can’t stand up to combat with the big boys, but will do just fine if allowed to control the battlefield. This school would be rated much higher in the ninja/scout section, so I intend to put in in there as well, it wouls be about a 7.8 or so.
Clan: Crane
Rank 1: +[fire] to TN to be hit, when from advantageous position add +[school]K0 to damage
Rank 2: +[air] to attack. May designate one opponent against whom your TN is increased by [5 x School] until the first time they hit you.
Rank 3: +[2 x fire] to TN (replaces 1), when someone acts against you: make a contested void roll, if you win move away from him.
Rank 4: +1 attack, +1 FR for disarm, feint or knockdown only.
Rank 5: +[3 x fire] to TN (replaces 3), +[stealth + athletics] to initiative, also whenever you receive circumstance bonuses (including attack posture), the bonuses are doubled, in addition when attacking such opponents your 8s and 9s explode on damage as well.
How to use it: Don’t play fair. If you play fair they win and your clan dies. If you sneak around in the shadows, and then jump on them while they are in the middle of crossing a stream, they are dead and your clan is safe. Boost your agility as quickly as possible as it relates to most of the skills in the school, play it safe and attack from surprise, cover, darkness, whatever it takes.
How to beat it: Get them out into the open and a straight up fight. Don’t be too aggressive and don’t let them maneuver you into a trap. In a fair fight they lose, so find ways to make the fight fair.
Recommended Advantages: None.
Recommended Family: Kakita, the agility boost is nice, starting you off at 4.

4.5
Name: Toku Bushi
Named after a farmer who managed to rise far above his position to be the commander of the imperial guard, this school is all about letting the underdog win. In all honesty, ranks 1 and 3 are amazing, but everything else is kinda lame.
Clan: Monkey
Rank 1: add [2 x willpower] to any roll with a TN greater then 15, or on a contested roll where the opponent has either a greater skill or trait then you. +[willpower] to TN.
Rank 2: may ignore wound penalties up to [school x 4] for a round, the following round they are doubled. This may be used every other round.
Rank 3: each level of wounds is increased by your willpower. +[HR] to any rolls against someone of a higher insight rank then you.
Rank 4: +1 attack. May spend a VP to force an opponent to reroll damage.
Rank 5: may spend a VP to reroll any roll. May be done any number of times, you can choose which roll to take.
How to use it: first off, keep your skills a bit low. If your spend all your xp on traits then your dice pools will have lots of kept dice and your skills will be lower then you opponents and you will add 2 x willpower. Oh, and pump up your willpower as soon as possible.
How to beat it: well, they get bonuses that there isn’t really much you can do about. On the other hand this school won’t use any underhanded techniques, and they don’t do more then a bit more damage then usual, so there are any number of ways to deal with this school.
Recommended Advantages:none
Recommended Family: Toku (starting willpower 4!)

4.3
Name: Usagi Bushi
This school is one of the more infamous schools in Rokugan, it is not exactly an honorable way to fight, as feet are not quite as revered as a weapon as the katana. That being said this school is decent, especially for a minor clan school. This is possibly the most defensive school in the game.
Clan: Hare
Rank 1: +[athletics] to TN while on full defense. Can run and full attack, gain 1 FR and +[athletics] to attack.
Rank 2: +[school] to water ring for movement. Initiative is not reduced by mass combat. +[school] to reflexes for TN to be hit.
Rank 3: +1 attack that must be a kick. If the kick happens first may apply rank 1 to all other attacks this round.
Rank 4: Movement is not penalized by full defense. May apply defense bonus to [2 x rank] opponents. You may spend 2 VP to make a feint while on full defense.
Rank 5: you may make an unarmed feint with a bonus of [athletics], if successful, you gain 3 FRs and a +10 TN against that opponent for a turn.
How to use it: well, this school is heavy on the defense. If you are rank 4 then alternate between normal and full defense, occasionally making a feint while in full defense, preferable the unarmed feint from rank 5.
How to beat it: get them in an inclosed space. Most of those techniques don’t work well in small spaces, as they require the hare to bounce off of anything at hand. Also, while they have a lot of bonuses to defense, they don’t have all that much else going for them.
Recommended Advantages: none.
Recommended Family: Usagi

3.5
Name: Matsu Berserker
Do you want to abandon all finesse and just smash things? If yes, then this is the school for you. This school has no real tricks, you just hit them till they stop squirming and begging for mercy.
Clan: Lion
Rank 1: +[HR] to damage. +[school] in FR while in full attack that can only be used for extra damage.
Rank 2: after the first time you hit in a fight: +[water] to attack. If you are in full attack you may do this up to [school] times in one combat. This bonus goes away if you ever go full defense, or go [school] turns without attacking.
Rank 3: +1 attack. +1 FR while in full attack only for additional attacks. +[2 x HR] to all damage (replaces 1)
Rank 4: -[3 x HR] wound penalties when in full attack. +[3 x HR] TN to all attempts to mind control you.
Rank 5: +[3 x HR] to damage (replaces 3). When rolling attack or damage you may reroll any dice that show a number less than your [HR+1], you must accept the new result of those dice.
How to use it: Well, go full attack and don’t worry about anything until the fight ends. Pretty simple.
How to beat it: Well, like the akodo but even more so. Great at the attack this schools reliance on full attack makes it very, very vulnerable. If you can get them to waste their attack somehow they are wide open for the skewering.
Recommended Advantages: Large and honor, just like Akodo.
Recommended Family: Matsu, the extra damage helps.

3.4
Name: Tsuruchi Bounty Hunter
Once the wasp were a minor clan that openly disavowed the use of the sword, the fact that their style of archery has survived until now is a testament to its effectiveness. This school is good at what it does, but there is not nearly as much call for bow work as there is for sword work. In the scouts/ninja section it would likely rate a 6. something.
Clan: Mantis
Rank 1: +[air ring] to TN, double for ranged. At beginning of combat you get either +[school x 1K1] to initiative, or +[school] FRs usable only for additional attacks with a bow.
Rank 2: +1 Attack with a bow. Extra attacks due to raises need not be directed at the same target (roll using the higher of the 2 TNs)
Rank 3: may sped a void point to eliminate surprise penalty. All effects that require raises (except damage) now require one less raise with a bow. +[2 x air] to TN, replaces 1.
Rank 4: 1 attack a round may ignore all temporary TN modifiers to it.
Rank 5: You may give up one attack per round to make an attack with 10 FRs that cannot be used for extra attacks. If you make multiple attacks you may raise for an extra attack on each of your two attacks.
How to use it: Be a sniper. This school has better range than any other bushi school, and can be pretty terrifying if you are standing on top of a wall shooting down and they have no way to get to you.
How to beat it: Get to them. While this school is designed to work at long range if you can get up close you will be able to carve them up at your leisure.
Recommended Advantages:
Recommended Family: Tsuruchi.

3.0
Name: Moto Bushi
This school is the Unicorn clan’s answer to the hida school. This is a school for big burly men to ride people into the ground, or charge at them, frothing at the mouth.
Clan: Unicorn
Rank 1: use 2 handed weapons in 1 hand, add +1k0 if you do so, +2K0 if mounted or on full attack. =[earth] to damage.
Rank 2: -[willpower + school] to damage taken from each attack (minimum of 1 wound). +[water] to attack.
Rank 3: +1 attack. +[2 x earth] to damage (replaces 1)
Rank 4: +[2 x water] to attack (replaces 2). May spend 1 VP on attack to add +3K3, and may spend one on damage to get +2K2.
Rank 5: when mounted or in full attack: +0K[strength/2 round down] on damage. +[3 x earth] to damage (replaces 3). You cannot be reduced to fewer rolled dice then you keep on damage.
How to use it: well, pick up a scimitar, get up on your horse and start killing things. unlike most Unicorn schools this one can be used while not mounted, but that requires full attack, and that is rarely a good thing. Even the damage reduction won’t compensate for it enough.
How to beat it: kill the horse. Once on the ground the moto is no longer getting higher ground bonuses, and will be forced to go into full attack to retain most of the school bonuses.
Recommended Advantages: Large.
Recommended Family: Moto.

2.3
Name: Ronin Warrior
Well, it isn’t as good as a clan school, but it can still be decent. Although, let’s be honest, a ronin will never be as good as a clan member.
Rank 1: +1K1 on attack or damage against someone who has attacked you.
Rank 2: the round after you were wounded you add those wounds as bonus to your initiative . If you attack the person who wounded you that round +2K0 to attack.
Rank 3: +1 attack.
Rank 4: [rank] times per day you may spend a VP to add [school] to each die of damage.
Rank 5: may take a -1K0 penalty to get a +0K1 bonus on attacks. May do this any number of times on the same roll.
How to use it: Not much to say here, a very generic school that hurts those who hurt it.
How to beat it: Make sure your first hit kills him. Or at least cripples him.
Recommended Advantages: strength of the earth.

0.5
Name: Ronin Yojimbo
Also known as a meat shield, the ronin yojimbo is a sad lot in life. Their lives are always drastically less meaningful then that of those they guard, and are considered disposable. Not to mention the fact that the school is absolutely terrible.
Rank 1: the guard action does not require a raise, confers +6 TN per raise instead of +5. May share benefits of full defense with another.
Rank 2: -[3 x rank] to all wound penalties while acting in self defense or defense of another.
Rank 3: once you abandon the full defense posture you gain a bonuse on initiative the next round equal to the bonus to your TN from the full defense action.
Rank 4: +1 attack.
Rank 5: spend a VP to still attack while in full defense.
How to use it: well, if you are rank 5 stay in full defense posture as much as possible, carefully sniping at them when they leave an opening. Before that: don’t start a fight, if you do you will die.
How to beat it: well, this school may be hard to hit but it gets no bonuses to hitting either, so play it safe and it might take a long time, but you will likely be able to wear them down.
Recommended Advantages: none.

Thye Palin I'm voting for:

ABStocking@gmail.com — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 23:54:37 GMT

Link

of Injury and Intrigue

ABStocking@gmail.com — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 22:02:30 GMT

Right so, the last few days:
We had rush last Sunday, which I enjoyed quite a bit, despite some complications and consequences. And now a breakdown of my thoughts on rush, in grade format:

Shooting/kills: C+/B-: I’m not the best shot with a nerf gun in tower, nor will I ever claim to be such, but I got off a few shots that were pretty good, and so I rate myself as a bit above average, but not by too much.

Survivability: C-: This was a bad year for my kill/be killed ratio, I got hit more then the average person, sometimes seeming to live on 3rd floor due to getting hit quite early on.

Weaponry: A+: I brought the Vulcan into lounge where it stayed, sometimes manned by me and more frequently by others, and man is that thing good for stopping a push in its’ tracks.

Personal Safety: F: I managed to hurt one of my feet quite badly on one of the final pushes. But this is my first Rush BSFFA related injury in 5 years, so I really can’t complain.

The creepiest thing is that after going to sleep that night half-convinced that my toe was broken and being in excruciating pain, when I woke up I couldn’t feel a bit of pain in it. I have full range of motion and no pain whatsoever. Man I like being me.

Also last weekend was the first session of LARP, which I greatly enjoyed. I was worried at a couple of points that I might not make it to the second session for political reasons, but all that got worked out. I am dismayed by the actions of several of the mages and man do we need to have a talk to some of our own about what we mention to others (No Celestial Flange rumors!!!) and some of the mages seem willing to set aside the good of the mages as a whole for some excitement, so there is work to be done, and fun to be had.

Annoyed by the college, due to the sports center doing weird things with my paychecks (like submitting one timesheet when my time is tracked and paid differently for two positions) I don’t have money right now, something I hope to remedy tomorrow, although it will take a fair amount of hassle.

School type things

ABStocking@gmail.com — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 22:38:36 GMT

So Things are going very well today. I started the day with less sleep than I wanted, but managed to get up and do the reading before class. The reading was almost insulting, it was the most basic directions on how to use a compass to determine which direction north was, and then using that to figure out where east south and west were. Then I got to class and found that those with any orienteering experience at all had, like me found the reading uselessly self explanatory. The problem was that those students in the class who had never held a real compass before hadn’t had the experience needed to understand the reading. So if you knew the topic is was insultingly simple, but if you didn’t it made no sense, probably one of the worst devised readings I’ve seen here. But then the class broke into pairs, to do distance and bearing exercises. I (since I had orienteering experience) was paired with one of the least experienced girls in the class. I can’t for the life of me remember her name, but we share two classes and get along quite well.

For the distance tests (learning to estimate distance by our steps) we were off by 6 centimeters off for 10 meters. That was just pacing out and trying to put a marker at 10 meters. Then there was a quasi-competitive project to estimate the distance between a tree and a sign. When the groups compared numbers no one else, including the professor was anywhere near ours, but we were pretty confidant we had it right so we stuck with our answer. We were exactly right, not off by a single centimeter, which in a public forum/competition is always fun. Then we broke off into the orienteering part and I discovered that while my partner knew nothing at all of compasses to start with she was a fast and a good learner. I have never quite appreciated how much fun it can be to teach someone something they enjoy learning when they are a good learner. She made quite good progress and by the end was the second fastest to get an accurate bearing in the next test (I came in first). All in all a very enjoyable class for something that has been dull, dry and boring up until now.

And now, at work things are going great. For reference: I work front desk at the sports center. I was trained to be a supervisor last year, but for various reasons I decided to stay at the front desk. Yesterday the Supervisor came over and started asking me questions about how the sports center works, and has been redirecting people with questions and problems to me. This is a rather nice ego boost for one, and secondly my record allows me liberties not enjoyed by other workers. We are not supposed to use our computers for anything other than schoolwork upon threat of being fired. The bosses don’t care that I play computer games and read comics, because they trust me to be attentive. This leeway is great, and is a sign of trust that the other workers don’t enjoy, and hey, I can never resist someone saying “have some special privileges because you are better then the others” Man talk about feeding my ego nicely.

So, current status update:

ABStocking@gmail.com — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 21:35:19 GMT

Things are pretty good for me personally, although there is some drama running around tower. Most of my games are going well so far. People seem to be enjoying both my Exalted and Hunter games, which is a good sign. I’m pretty sure that I made a few minor mistakes in exalted, but nothing too big.

Classes are going. I’m interested in my Museum studies class, it is basically exactly what I expected and wanted, which is fine by me, as my Archeology Theory and Technique class is rather disappointing. The teacher is not one to inspire her students, and so far the sum total of what I have learned is two definitions (Provenience and Provenance) and that I only learned because a student called her on it when she used the wrong one, she had thought they meant the same thing until she checked with one of the Museum Studies Profs. The rest of the class might be useful to people who had never heard of Archeology before, but since it is made up of people who want to do it, we have all been bored out of our skulls. The teacher doesn’t even know what many of the slide in her power point presentation are because she is using the slides that the last teacher to teach this class used without bothering to learn anything about them.

Sociology on the other hand is going along pretty damn well. I am enjoying the discussions, and when we divided into group I got put in a group of 5 where 4 of us actually care about doing any work. The other guy spent the entire group prep period talking to a similarly disinterested guy from another group about airsoft. Even with one dead weight I do believe that our group did more work today than any other group, we were actually able to wring more good points and discussion out of the 9 pages of introduction we were assigned than most of the others got out of their 30 page chapters, all in all an enjoyable contrast from the last time I was forced to do group projects and no one else cared at all.

I am enjoying myself immensely here now that everyone is back. My class schedule is so perfect for me that I can stay up until 4:00 talking with folks, then get 8 hours of sleep, wake up at noon, go to lunch, and then have an hour to do any last minute homework or finish up any readings I need to do. I am loving college, and if it weren’t for the one bum class this would be pretty much perfect. There are very few things that could make this any better for me right now.

Classes N'stuff

ABStocking@gmail.com — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 21:27:44 GMT

So I have classes, I feel I should post a bit about them hereon the off chance that anyone cares.

Class 1: Intro to Museum studies. This looks like it will be quite fun. I am quite possibly the only person in the class who doesn’t actively enjoy going through museums. I don’t have anything against them, and I actively enjoy working in one, as well as the how and why of the displays, but I might have been the only person in the class who didn’t list enjoying going to museums in the reasons why there were in the class. That being said, while I may not be the exact type of person the class was designed for, it is focusing on exactly what I find enjoyable about museums, the how and why. What is the most efficient way of displaying a collection, how can we use these materials and information to better educate the visitors, that sort of stuff is what I want to learn and is exactly what they are intending to teach, so I’m looking forward to this class.

Class 2: Archaeology Theory and Technique. This looks to be a dud. The teacher has never taught outside of a community college before and isn’t nearly as good at lecturing as she should be. She can’t really seem to run anything resembling a discussion and all of her experience is practical experience. Now that would be a good thing if she were teaching us the practical aspects of archaeology, which you might expect from the name. But we are not actually going to be doing any hands on work in the class, not even a mock dig (something I have been doing and even setting up since something like 6th grade). So I’m a bit disappointed in the class, but the teacher is nice enough and I appear to have won her over by being the only student in the class who was familiar with the book Motel Of Mysteries, a silly kids book about archaeologists in the future. Basically I’m thinking of this class as an easy A as long as I pay attention.

Class 3: Intro to Sociology. I tried taking this class first semester last year, or maybe it was second semester the year before, anyway, it was atrocious and had a very bad teacher. The three classes I attended before dropping it were boring and useless. Now taking it with a different teacher it is everything I had wanted it to be. The class is too big for the type of discussions that would make it perfect, but considering that only 3 or 4 of us talk at all, that is a moot point. The first session on Class was today and it perfectly complimented a long discussion in lounge that I had had just the previous night, in short this class looks amazing and a part of me wishes I could have taken it years ago when I might have been able to go more into the field.

So, there are my classes, it should be a relatively light semester work-wise, which is perfectly fine with me, while being decently fun. Oh, and the best part? I never have class before 1:30 PM. This schedule wins hard.

On a more fun note I recently discover that more Runaways exists than I had previously thought. Including some written by Joss Whedon. This makes me happy.

General Update

ABStocking@gmail.com — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 05:45:43 GMT

well, I haven't made a general update post in a while so I should probably write some of this stuff down before I forget.

I'm back at Beloit and fully moved into the Dungeon, which I had missed. i am gonna be sad when Abe asks for his fridge and microwave back though, I had never really known how damn useful they are when you are making your own meals.

Freshmen are seemingly swarming BSFFA, I've seen something like 15 different freshmen already and the open house hasn't happened yet, this makes me pretty happy, I always like club doing well. And while meeting new freshmen is nice I can't wait for the upperclassmen to show up, basement is kinda dead with only me in it.

On a similar but less enjoyable note freshmen are flooding the sports center with no clue as to what they are doing. I have given more directions in the last 2 days that in the entire rest of the summer. And some of these3 freshmen are so young looking that I mistook them for the children's swim group that sometimes uses the pool, there is one who I would swear wasn't a day over 14, if that. Bah, I'm gettin' old.

Tonight for the first time since my computer died (not counting the vacation to Maine) I did some reading for fun. I usually spend 5 or 7 hours reading at work and then don't really feel like any more after that, but tonight I couldn't put a book down. I started it yesterday, read it for the 5 hours of my shift, read it for five hours at work today, then came home to read some more, I only finished it at 11:00, for 15 hours of reading time. Considering I usually chew through a standard paperback in 4-5 hours this is pretty remarkable to me. The book was Clear and present Danger by Tom Clancy. I have decided that I really like Tom Clancy's work. This is the second of his books I've read (the first being Hunt for Red October) and I have throughly enjoyed both of them. They appeal to me on multiple levels There is a bit of action, but the conflicts are shown on every level, starting from the individual to the tactical to the strategic to the political. They are wonderfully put together and create a multitude of characters that you can actually care about as well as being fascinating tales of combat and political intrigue.

On a completely different note I just ordered a new laptop today, not having Galen still makes me sad, but the shiny new laptop only cost $50 more than getting the motherboard replaced, and there were a number of small idiosyncrasies that would likely start to be problems soon (missing keys, weird glitches and all that), so I'm glad that I'll have a brand new machine, but I really do regret the passing of my old computer.

All in all I'm doing quite well, I'm pretty happy right now. Life is good and there are no emergencies or even really serious concerns for a while yet, right now I'm allowing myself to dwel on the games I'n in this semester, more so than I was during the summer anyway. I am activly looking forward to every single game that I am part of, and that is better than average. I went through Chargen with the LARP STs and had to make some serious chsnges to my intended character sheet, but I am not too unhappy with all that, the bigger changes were honestly a good thing for the character and will make some things much easier. The only real problem I have is that the STs were heavilly discouraging skills at 4 that weren't absolutly critical, and while I fully understand their reasoning I will admit that I like having at least one high number on a character sheet, now the highest stat is a 3 with a specialty, but og well, this is more an issue with NWoD then with the STs, and isn't a huge deal anyway.

I think that is about all, now back to reading the Hunter book.

Hunter review:

ABStocking@gmail.com — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 22:20:45 GMT

So after some time to go through Hunter The Vigil, I think I have decided that I like it. One of the biggest things I like about it that it has something for everyone. want a game focused around being the vengeful smiting hammer of God: Malleus Maleficarum is for you. Want to be hunting Vampires down with specially designed technology: Task force Valkyrie. Or play the blue collar member of the union who wants nothing more than the safety of his family. this has allowed the writters of the Vigil to keep aspects of old hunter alive, while expanding on them and making them just one part of a larger whole.

Mechanically: I don't buy some of their justifications for why Hunters get access to powers and abilities that normal humans don't, but these systems are mechanically sound and great for the sort of game that Hunter the Vigil should be. I so like the Endowments, although some are a bit more powerful than others, but not by too much. My only real problem with endowments is that only conspiracies (the world spanning organizations) can get them, although that is ameliorated by the fact that you can definitely start off as a member of one of them without being too much overpowered (and perhaps even underpowered0 compared to someone limited to mortal merits (5 dots of a combat style will still wreck 5 dots of advanced armory).

And in the world of interconnecting metaphysics Hunter is a bit of a goldmine. The greater demon templsate in the back of the book is a character concept directly out of demon the fallen, which makes me wonder if they intend to release a new versoin of demon. Also, on a purely ammused note: Mages are mechanically Mortal. If a hunter power says that it doesn't effect mortals then Sleepwalkers, wolfblooded, ghouls and mages are unaffected. Every other type 0f supernatural is consiudered not to be mortal, at least as far as Hunter is concerned. Backs up the "Mages are just better" Theory.

All in All I quite like the system and will be using it with a few modifications (adding a heralds merit as well a second sight) for my hunter game this semester. I will also be running a hunter pick up the sunday night before classes start, hopefully after all you upperclassmen get here.