I took time away from this blog because life happened. We trade in our hobbies for suits and our happiness for slaving away at a full time job when life happens. We find true love when life happens, that shining golden moment when we find our true love. We rediscover, we grow, we adult hardcore, we learn. We make blogs that crumble apart within two posts and reinvent our worldviews when life happens. And we discover ourselves.
Since my 2015 post, I got engaged to my soulmate, Krista. We moved to Florida soon after, in early October. I felt like that was the end of the Lehigh Valley Guy. You kind of have to be in the Lehigh Valley to be the Guy. But as fate would have it, we are planning to move back at the end of the year, after we wed and the apartment lease ends. We miss the Valley, we miss our friends and family. Not to say that Florida sucks, Florida has wonderful flora and fauna, which is good for our budding photography business. However, we discovered within ourselves that we are not Floridians. We are our homelands in some respect. Ours is on the banks of the Delaware River.
I created a blog called Chest in the Attic. This is me saying that that blog is being subsumed into this one as a bi-monthly column. Table Plan and Table Stories are being brought back in this, as well as any unboxings, reviews, and such. It makes it easier to write a regular column if I take the time to write what I want within reason, instead of heavily restricting myself like I did. That page will be changing up.
When I return up north I will also be doing columns about stuff going on in the Valley. Local shit, I know, but its a part of me. As I have said in a way early post, this blog is me in a way. And hey, we are close enough to Philly and NYC, so I guess it is more than local (ie, more Comic-Con coverage). Speaking of personal stuff; I will promote my partner's photography on here like I'm Bill Clinton illegally promoting Hillary at the polls. Maybe not the best allusion, but I'm sure you catch my drift.
A wise woman once told me, write what you know. That woman is my mother. It's high time I listen to her when it comes to blogging!
I wanted to do a post that was my take/review of the newest edition to the most well known table-top RPG of all time, Dungeons and Dragons, for a while now, but kept forgetting that I had the new Dungeon Master's Guide for some strange reason. Not the most glowing way to begin a review I reckon, but I digress. I have read all three of the core rulebooks and I must say my biggest thing with the newest edition is... *deep breath* MYSTARA IS RETURNING!!!!!
I will just put this here for good measure :P
With that little tangent and digression out of the way, let's begin working our way through the books one at a time!
Booke the First: Player's Handbook
Let me first begin with the wonderful cover-art direction that was taken for not only this book but they other two. I simply love it. Don't get me wrong, I also loved the very simplistic stylings of 3/3.5, but there is something about having an image just thrusted into your eye sockets like this. It is the best form of eye candy plain and simple. Plus, we have moved away from the comic book stylings of 4E (not entirely though, as I will state later).
I will also place the statement here that, much like I am sure many of you have, I have watched Noah Antwiler's (aka the Spoony One) lambasting 5E in the most harsh ways possible, stating that the edition coddles players and doesn't describe shit. He also said the book smelled to, which, I will signal boost. My book reeked to be honest, and the binding is utter garbage. I'm so scared one day I am going to open this book and the pages are going to escape faster a little coat on a fat guy (or is it fat guy in a little coat). These things are minor and now my PHB smells like the rest of my room, for the most part, but still, legit things to complain about, especially with the binding. I heard that they allow you to return the book for one with better binding, but I think I might end up trying to preserve my copy for as long as humanly possible.
And now comes the point that I completely disagree with Spoony as I am oft to do when it comes to his movie reviews (still watch/read them, he is, after all, a very funny guy) and tell you about how this book is AWESOME! I just love how many options they give you with character creation right from the get-go. Turn to the Dwarf page, and you get Dwarven sub-races to play, they do this for all the races. Turn to the Fighter page, and you get awesome paths you can take your fighter (fighters can now do more than lift things up and put them down), it's like the Unearthed Arcana had a baby with the 3.5 PHB and this was it! Go back to races, look at the Halfling page and...... OH MY GODS!
What in Baator is this?!?Nothing inside the PHB whatsoever describes Halflings as "Goldeneye 007 Big-Head Mode but in D&D" monstrosities. Nope, the art simply just hates you and everything you stand for Halfling players. Back in 3/3.5E, Lidda the Halfling Rogue was, admitedly, fap material for me. NOT ANYMORE! While we are on art, let's talk about the weirdly dueling art styles of this edition. We have a lot of the old, smooth, classical art of 2E and 3/3.5E, nice beautiful imagery. Then, on another page, we get this 4E comic book style that is in your face, bold, and meant to draw the eyes of the MMO crowd, as well as anyone else. The art isn't bad at all, all the art is good, but can we please pick one style please? This would be like having a Superman comic but with different art on every panel. Pop-art on one, Japanese Anime on another. It's actually really distracting in a way.
Getting back to the myriad of options you are given, every character will feel fresh and new. Feats can now be chosen instead of a stat boost, and these feats are much more eye-popping than they were before, changing up how one plays a character. Again, this is D&D how you want it! With backgrounds to add to your characters, the customability is endless. The big goal was to make each class do more at all stages of play, Wizards can contribute more in the early game, and Fighters in the end game, and so on. Does Linear Fighters/Quadratic Wizards still come into play? It does, it is an unavoidable problem within the D&D system, but at least it seems to be less noticeable and not as wide a gap is formed as there was in 3/3.5E. Now play is more about strategy and working as a team instead of having the Wizard carry the party (sometimes literally).
I will state right now as part of my closing that everything in this edition flows together. there is no detriment to getting all three core books at all. This has become D&D as you like it. I once again refer back to Spoony's statement about this edition coddling players. Well, there are options within this book, as well as in the Dungeon Master's Guide that can change that and make the game more brutal and make the players use their heads more. I for one would not want to coddle my players. Sure, not every quest is Tomb of Horrors, but if they want to walk through a swamp with no protection, that is their problem.
First of all, let's just sit back and look at the remarkable absence I have had from blogging in its entirety. Sometimes life takes us for a curveball and the weirdest shit happen. Sometimes we fall on hard times for extended periods. Others, we get so caught up in the good things that we lose track of other projects. Sometimes we are scooped up into events so legendary the likes of Homer and Tolkien cannot match them (which was what happened to me). We then come back to these other parts of our lives and wonder just what the Hell happened, what in the name of the Gods changed?
Which brings us to the main point of this Table Plan AND Table Story COMBO-BREAKER! I have been playing with this D&D/Pathfinder group for almost two years now. These have been two amazing years full of dragon slaying, dungeon plundering, maiden deflowering, Paladin redeeming, and comradery. However, due to issues that had come up in my life that intersected with a few members of the group (and the people who own the house we play at), alongside other changes in my life like losing my job and finding true love, I felt like I didn't jive with half of the group anymore. This lead to a major fork in the road: either radically change absolutely everything with the group, or leave the group on good terms.
I chose the latter choice, and let me tell you, it is no easy choice to make.
Some of these problems were a long time coming, things were done and said behind my back, some of these things involved other people who were in my life or are still in it. As on the changes outside of the group, it is a commonly known thing in gaming group that major life changes do tend to pull either some members away or make the entire group fall apart. One campaign that I was a part of with a different group (but had members overlap between) was held at this one couple's house that I am very close friends with, but certain changes made them pull away from the group. I to left that group. Even then I could tell I was gonna have some of those issues bleed into my main group. What was left was me feeling like, while some members of the group would have loved for me to stay and play, I no longer felt welcome with the rest.
So I simply explained to the GM that I was having issues with some members of the group, and with other life changes on top of that, decided it would be for the best if I left.
This brings us to the Plan part of the post: when does one know if it is time to leave the group. Sometimes this decision is easy. If you used to play a weekly game in Chicago and then moved to someplace far away like Orlando, Florida or Bend, Oregon; I doubt you would still be playing in that weekly game. Gas prices are getting better, but not THAT much better. Another example of an easy version of the decision is time difference. If the group plays on Friday nights and you work Friday nights, you can't just up and skip work to play. That would be irresponsible. Playing with that group would require a time change. This is why such websites like Roll20 are amazing, able to play campaigns anywhere with anyone at any time.
Yet, like with my situation, sometimes the choices is difficult. There is group remediation that can happen that can fix most problems. For example, if there is a treasure hog in the group, the group can sit down and talk with the member on this issue. Bada-bing, problem solved. This works for out-of-game issues as well. For example, a smoker who take so many smoking breaks that it bogs down the group can be asked to not take as many, for the sake of not breaking up game time.
However, sometimes the problem is greater than a simple bit of remediation can handle, especially if the problems are more personal in nature. sometimes you handle the problems but they come back again or in a new form. This is where you must ask yourself two simple questions: how healthy am I for the group, and how healthy is the group for me? Maybe healthy isn't the best word, maybe substitute it for how much of a fit you are for the group and vice verse. If you look at those questions and the answer comes up negative on both of them, then maybe it is time.
A close friend of mine, who has been gaming for much longer than I, also gave the advice that you will know when it is time to leave the group. It is almost intuitive. So I sat there in my girlfriend's kitchen and decided to let my intuition tell me what to do. I mean, looking for signs from the universe, known as augury, is a practice as old as mankind. My gallbladder flipped me the bird and proceeded to do its best impression of being a victim of Jack the Ripper. I couldn't have gotten a sharper image on what to do if I tried.
When you do leave a group, unless it was a really bad time, do try to end it on a positive note. I told my GM that I hope to play in future campaigns with him and others in the group. Simply put, nothing more, nothing less. And I do hope to play with them in the future.
I had a huge heart to heart about his blog and the state of my life since the State of the Blog Address, and all Blogger gets me is a shrug and the post pulling a disappearing act. Seriously, what just happened here.
So, I'm still working, got a promotion, I'm apartment hunting for a place for my girlfriend and I to live, and this blog is returning.
Wish I could write more, but I have a but of a headache at the moment.
September was not a good month for me. In fact, I wouldn't say I've been in the best places mentally since July. That is part of the reason why I haven't really blogged since the bloggiversary. What I really needed was a hiatus, a sort of no blog period from the bloggiversary to Comic-Con, which is next week. Again, I am just going on the Saturday, and cosplaying as the Ninth Doctor instead of the Tenth. Planning on meeting John Barrowman as well.
So I assume you want to know what happened since the death of the Dakota? Well, since July, I have been having panic attacks off and on, stacked on top of my depression. Had some life changes happen along that rode to. Lost some friends, became single again, new job, and some new friends to. I've reached out to old friends, and have rekindled some amazing things, especially with my friend whom I shall name on here Zombie Girl. I'm hoping October will be a better month for me, and so far, it has yet to disappoint.
So alongaide that, here is my State of the Blog Address:
*Table Plan and Table Stories are returning to their regular Monday schedule, starting with a Story called "Revenge at Havyn," based at the LARP I go to.
*My friend aka the Pirate, and I, we were planning a YouTube series in which we sit back, smoke cigars and talk about all things nerdy and awesome. If we do it, expect links!
*Speaking of, Ganon still can't surf the web, too many links.
*I've been getting into board games since my laptop started acting strange (I'm posting this from my new phone, which is basically a phablet), so expect some board game shenanigans.
*Yes I virus scanned and such on my laptop, I'm no dummy, I think it might be a hardware issue, which is beyond my expertise, and I'm too poor for Geek Squad.
*My D&D group and I are making a setting cooperatively so expect posts on that, some of which will be in Table Plan.
*Since last Blog Year I took an accidental hiatus and this year I needed a break to recuperate, I think the Bloggiversary to Comic-Con hiatus will be a thing now.
A simple little post, a simple little post to say goodbye to a truck that has been there for some really formative moments in my life. For getting me to see Destiny in Philly, to Pagan/Buddhist festivals that shaped me, to countless D&D Nights and other a nerdy thing, I thank it for its work. And even though you have been consigned to an early death thanks to the mechanics not really looking at my truck, know that you were always a hard worker (except for that time, of course, when you erupted like Old Faithful with coolant).
The Green Dragon, aka, Clara, Sheila, and the TruckDIS (trucks in relative dimensions
and space?)
1993-2013
ADDENDUM
Because this post wasn't over the top silly and sentimental already:
My part-time job pays semimonthly/biweekly (take your pick of big words), so I am sitting here with $27 in my wallet, a fistful of change that I hope makes it out to an extra $3, and me trying to plan out a trip to Dystopia Rising. Yes, it's that time of the month again! It's time to LARP!
I didn't go to Dystopia Rising last month due to not having the money, and it killed me. I sat around wondering, "damn, I wonder what is happening in Havyn right about now?" I am not passing this up this month. My girlfriend is going, she LARPed before, and she wants to LARP with me. I also love LARPing, it has become rather quickly a passion and a hobby, much like table-top gaming, or puzzles with my girlfriend. I actually didn't expect to enjoy it as much as I did, but I loved it. I loved playing as my Baywalker. It's relaxing. It's realy fun not being Kyle for like 36-48 hours, and be my Baywalker Finnegan.
And I am awesomly photogenic as Finnegan
So I think I have the money thing down pat. Next is trying to wrap this around work. I work the weekends, my days off being Monday and Tuesday, and many a LARP are a Friday-Sunday kind of deal. I know I can't, with how little money I have, to make the whole weekend work; so leaving from work to DR, and then from DR to work, and then homeward bound is the only way I can work it. In total, it's about 122 miles, tacked onto my 32 already clocked on my truck, takes me to 152. Not bad, except for the fact that my truck is a gas-guzzler, guzzling gas like I guzzle boneless wings or pizza. my truck gets right about empty at 200 miles. While I can get there and back on a single tank of gas, and finish off the week at work on that tank, it still annoys me. I think this is more an annoyance at my truck, which is, while much better than my last one, still seems like it has one tire in the junkyard. Trucks and SUVs and such are traditionally gas-guzzlers, and being the traveler that I am, I hate having that sort of limit. My friend whom introduced me to Minecraft has a Mini, and his gas gauge barely moved when he and I once went to a video-game convention down near Philly. My truck would have sucked down so much gas, I could hear Mother Earth groan in pain.
Back to the "making this work around work" subject, I will only get about 17-18 hours at DR until I have to go back and work for more money. I will be missing out on 22 hours of action this time around. Next month I will have more money to stay there for longer (an extra 86 miles back to DR and then, *gasp* back to work, maybe I could see if I could call off for a day), so I won't get THAT much time there, but time enough to have a little bit of fun and get my LARP fix for the month. It might sound insane, but then again, there are people out there who get addicted to gambling. At least here I lose a fixed amount of money, and not a random amount based on my aching need to give it one more spin of the wheel.
Do I love LARPing? By Jove I do, but besides that, the act of having a hobby is very healthy. I like being healthy. I haven;t taken the best of care of myself in the past few months, so it's about time I pamper myself...
...by being another person for a short time and kicking Zombie ass!
