Pleasant Day, Odd Nights

So I managed to cram in a session of the Star Wars game Wednesday night. @.@ Started a little late, as expected, and got into combat toward the end with what might be considered a "boss" encounter. That led to things running a lot later than usual.

I'm still a little uneasy about the Saga Edition combat mechanics. The fight was meant to be challenging, and it was, but it felt a little inconsistent. Several PCs took some lumps. One was looking at a potentially big (though could have been low, too) crit, but Deflected. The "boss" had some pretty high defenses, and was looking like he could really drag the fight out. Using his Second Wind helped to that end. But then one PC suddenly scored a crit and he went from around 75% health to dead in oneshot. I'm amazed, and maybe disturbed, at how quickly one solid hit can alter things. I'm not even sure why I have this reaction, as it's not uncommon, except at higher levels of hp-based systems where damage doesn't scale up much. And did Dev and Kyt actually have that many Battle Strikes in their Force suites?

So I slept poorly after that and stumbled through Thursday morning. I went over to visit my parents toward noon. It's qualifies as a "nice drive" now. Heh. Amazing how much difference it makes to be able to keep speed going uphill and make the trip in under an hour instead of a chunk over. We had our afternoon Thanksgiving "dinner" and I started back a little before sundown. On the way back, I was aware enough to slam on the brakes and veer around a deer that decided to walk out across the highway on a path that would have put him in my lap if I hadn't reacted. Whee!

I slept better last night, but had some very odd dreams this morning. They involved me coming home to find my truck left there, and having to move it, then finding a bag of Christmasy presents outside my door with a note from a friend explaining how he's been diagnosed with cancer. o.o; That's a strange combination of stuff, but I'm glad it was just a dream.

And it's a little belated now, perhaps, but in the spirit of the holiday, I want to say I'm very thankful for my friends. Most are scattered around the continent, and kept in touch with online, but you are all dear to me. My friends are, in many ways, my family. And without them, it would be a very empty existence.