Redwolf's Journal (continued)

So while I have one computer trying to repair a hard drive that's looking pretty screwed, I seem to have time to think. That's not always a good thing. The company's starting up a new health program of sorts with online tracking and such. I wonder if filling out the questionaires will tell me the number one medical-related problem I really have: I'm a creature of habit, and my habits don't include going to the doctor. I haven't been to one in... years. Heck, I don't "have" a doctor, and I can't imagine any place still has records of me on file. This may be an opportunity to change that - maybe. I guess we'll see. Saw the new Indiana Jones movie on the weekend. It was decent fun and worth admission and time, I'd say, but not great. The "supernatural" stuff was too blatant for me compared to the others, and other elements were too over the top for my tastes. "More over the top than Nazi's having their face's mel

Not really enough sleep last night, but I suppose there's nothing much to be done about it. Roleplaying can be frustrating sometimes, whether by character proxy or from a player's perspective. And I think I got hit from both angles in last night's Exalted game. Ugh. First chunk of the session started with the PCs gathering aftering having split up around Yu Shan for various reasons, but seemed to quickly fall into discussion just between Alexandra and Naga. Kujath usually settles for looking cute in animal form and staying uninvolved. Selina's player was absent. Symphony, Tamara, and Kashim all suffer a little from quasi-NPC syndrome, where they say little unless their perspective is needed or they're directly addressed. Auric (who seems to have a fixation on people not keeping secrets - oh, unless it's him, then he wants his privacy) took Nightlily aside and I assume there was conversation there too, but I didn't see it. So it felt like I spent a major

One of the annoyances at the hotel was an inability to get a steady wireless connection with my laptop. That's probably due in part to the age/quirkiness of the computer itself, but I could barely keep connected long enough to check mail. Mrrf. Other than that, things went fairly well. We really only had one full day to poke around town - plus some hours before social gatherings we mostly spent resting. The wedding itself was nice, held at the Temple of Music and Art - something of a mission-style theater. It was warm starting out, but not unbearably so, and the weather actually got quite relaxing later. A few little things: - Seriously, I'm not THAT anti-social. I sat down first, it's not my fault all the near-but-not-quite-wedding-party people went to the other table. ;.; - That G6 is nice. Sweet car. Not like I could afford one, but... nice anyway. - Roadtrips remind me of how incredible the highway system is. - Saw the results of two accidents and we were diver

In Tucson safe and sound. The Pontiac G6 we're renting is pretty nice - I don't feel cramped, though you probably wouldn't want to sit behind me. We took the "long" way around through Flagstaff mostly for the purpose of avoiding Show Low, and were waylaid for a while by an accident we never even saw outside of Phoenix. We lost probably an hour there (and traveled about 2 miles in 45 minutes). So... we didn't make good time by any means, but we're here and we've already run a few errands around town. Now I'm just testing the hotel wireless network before flopping for a bit. It's been a long day so far.

I'd say "stop me if I'm rambling," but that's probably all this is going to be. I browse a fair amount of roleplaying-related forums. One topic/bit of advice that I see frequently given to GMs is "involve your players." It means a lot of things and is explained a lot of ways: let their actions matter, integrate any back stories their characters have, let their interests steer the course of the game... And yet, I don't see things play out that way very often. Years ago, I made a shift from casual roleplaying (in which generally the same characters faced a different dungeon/enemy/whatever every week) to something a bit more serious (with recurring villains, story arcs, etc.). The move toward some consistant story meant motivating characters to progress in a certain direction. I don't ever recall having to "fight" or "railroad" things, really. But that was perhaps the "glory days" or roleplaying offline, and the pl

Even when it is largely improvised. The group has entered potentially-unfriendly territory to get a magic sword. Simple enough. Things are complicated, though, by finding a village/town near the goal to be destroyed and a rampaging big-evil-guy-in-soulsteel making his way toward the party. One human survives, having been found on the brink of death and tended to with magical medicinal needles (as Alexi has the makings for an insta-healing combo, but hasn't had the time/XP to actually do it). So as the session opens, Alexi isn't sure how big a threat this guy is. She dispatches two (highly-mobile) people to find and retrieve the sword, just in case they all need to bug out, and sics the others on the warrior spilling purple lightning all over the place. Yay, delegation of duties. The pair after the sword find it in a well that turns out to be home to some sort of ooze monster. After some messy swimming and clawing out, and a couple impressive rolls, it's retrieved.