David Raynes

For the first time since I was a single guy, I spent the better part of today with my best friend, Joel. We got some work done here at the house (dismantling some furniture for transport to the dump), then it was off to the dump. After that, we hit the Games Workshop battle bunker (i.e. a big store) just a little further around the beltway and met up with our fellow gamer buddy (and colleague of mine), Kyle. We wondered around there for a while and then, seeing as it was past 1pm and none of us had eaten much of anything yet, we decided to go get some lunch. Joel wanted to go to Outback Steakhouse; he had never been to one before, and I was treating him to lunch, so we headed down the road. Turns out that Outback does not open until 2pm. Of course, I had heard that Outback was not open for lunch before, but managed to bury that deep enough in the great chasm that is my mind that I did not remember until we actually arrived at around 1:30. So, we ended up killing time by wandering around in the horribly crappy department store across the parking lot. Lunch was good, and Joel discovered a new purpose in life: to acquire more bloomin' onions.

After lunch, Kyle broke off to go back to his place to get some homework done. Joel and I headed back to the house and spent the rest of the afternoon and some of the evening watching Stargate Atlantis and Battlestar Gallactica on TiVo and a couple episodes of Deadwood (which is also when I discovered that the new season of that starts tomorrow night, at which point I nearly broke into a happy dance). All the while, we were gluing together little bits of plastic and metal for my Tyranid army. I finally got my lictor put together. What a spiffy looking figure that is; I will have to get some more from Neal at TheWarStore. It will be fun to paint, assuming I can get into all the nooks and crannies that thing has.

Our little group's next game is looking to be on the 20th. Maybe I will finally get to play more than one or two turns (last game was cut short on account of hordes of fricken snow falling). If I can get any painting done before then, I will try and post some pictures if anybody is interested.

I don't think I can really say I am out of the gaming thing really. I have gone to GZG-ECC every year since since '99, spending the entire weekend there since 2000 (and I am going to run a game one of these years, Jon, I swear). And I still game with Mark/Indy whenever he is available and we can work something out. I even got the chance to beta-test some new rules for Dirtside (now out-of-print, but available as a PDF through Ground Zero Games). He and I probably only cross paths a couple times a year outside of the convetion though.

What I want to start doing now is playing more outside of the convention. I have been talking about gaming quite a bit recently with a coworker of mine who used to play Warhammer 40k back in the mid-90's. He turned me on to a PC game coming out next week: Dawn of War. It is based on the Warhammer 40k background and the demo is quite addictive. The demo got me thinking about playing the tabletop game, which I have never tried but about which I am starting to get curious.

So talking about it more and more with my coworker pushes him over the edge and he decides to start getting back into playing, and he's already got a nearly complete army (just a few more figures and a little painting and he'll be finished). This of course pushes me really over the edge and I'm starting to get that serious gamer geek feeling in the pit of my stomach once again. As long as he is (eventually) willing to try some of the GZG games that I love so much: Stargrunt, Dirtside, and to some degree Full Thrust, I think we have the beginings of a decent little gaming group starting.

Now I just have to rope my other gaming buddies into things. Luckily, as I run the mailing list for local GZG gamers, I have already got a list of people to pester until they join us. Plus, it will definately give me the final push to get off my butt and get in touch with my best friend (and my best man), Joel, who I have not seen in nearly a year (since just after we bought the house). He was the guy that got me into miniature gaming in the first place. And I think Jenn more than almost anybody else (except maybe Joel) will be happy to see me finally start painting the pounds and pounds of unpainted figures I have been accumulating over the last few years. I suppose that is one of the downsides to going to the convention: plenty of painted figures provided for your gaming enjoyment, and a vendor or two selling unpainted ones that you can take home and say you will paint. I probably have something on the order of two companies worth of unpainted 25mm GZG figures scattered around the house. And that is not counting all of random fantasy miniatures that caught my eye back in the day and have since been gathering dust.

How about this? If I promise to paint my figures, will you folks promise to oooh and aaahh at them when I post pictures?

I've been playing FTJava with one of the developers (whom I've known for a few years now). I've been meaning to play ever since I first heard about it. And finally, this weekend, my desire to play and my success building java on my FreeBSD machine coincided.

Basically, FTJava is a Play-By-Email version of Full Thrust, a tabletop starship combat game. I've been playing Full Thrust a few times a year since I first met Mark back in '99-'00. Hopefully, I'll be getting in a few more games now. :)

I'll try to post some screenshots along with a play-by-play of sorts when I'm finished the current game (and at the rate my ships are being destroyed, that shouldn't be too long).

Anybody feel like joining me in a game?

The first expansion for Neverwinter Nights, Neverwinter Nights: Shadows of Undrentide, has gone gold and should be arriving in stores in the next few weeks.

Woo hoo! :)

One of my favorite games continues to improve. I can't wait to get my hands on this.

I picked up Leading Edge Games' (now out-of-business) OOP Aliens Queen on eBay. My collection is nearing completion. Of course, the only items I really have left are the APC, which makes the Queen look easy to get, and the Dropship, which I've never seen other than that picture.

I'll probably end up snagging more of the Alien Warriors just to fill out some troops for a Stargrunt 2 game.

I picked up a couple new card games this weekend. Jenn and I have played Killer Bunnies (and the Quest for the Magic Carrot) a couple times so far. It's been fun, though I imagine it would be more fun with more people to interact with. I also snagged Chez Greek, which is a standalone game that's fully compatible with one of my all time favorites, Chez Geek. If you haven't played Chez Geek before, order or pick it up NOW. We always have a blast playing that game, whether it's just Jenn and I, or it's a bunch of friends at a convention.

A new campaign, headed up by Randy, is in the works as we speak. I've been kicking around the idea of putting together a website for our group, and this is probably the last straw for me. All we need to do now is come up with an actual domain name for the site.

Here are some thoughts we've had so far:

• Portcullis-Posse: to explain that, I have to go back to last summer. On the drive back from GenCon, we came up with a name for a company if we ever got our feet wet in the RPG business: Portcullis Press. Add that to an interesting little incident with another semi-local player who ended up calling us an 'idiot posse' on his website. Together, that makes us the Portcullis Posse. (From me)


• BloodSweatNDice or bsnd for short: I just thought it was a cool name (Also from me)


• TenSiderOfPain (From Joe)


• TrapSpringersAnonymous (Also from Joe)


• Oneiromancers: (from Dictionary.Com) "The practice of predicting the future through interpretation of dreams." As Randy put it: "I like the "oneirmancer.com" one just because one who deals in a dream world seems appropriate to what we do." (Again from Joe)


• DemonsDamselsDiceAndBeer or dddnb for short (From Randy)


• RecklessRangers (From Joel)


• ThePlotHooks (More from Joel)


• CriticalThreat (Also from Joel)

Any other ideas, suggestions, or thoughts? How about votes?

Woo hoo! The new issue of Knights of the Dinner Table is here. So far, I've actually received issues 70, 73, and 74. Seems 71 and 72 must have gotten lost in the move somewhere.

Joel Frock, my best friend and best man, came over last night to take some digital pictures of his miniatures to show someone for whom he might do some work. I figured I'd let the rest of the world know they were there, mostly because I'm probably a charter member (if not the president) of the Joel Frock Fan Club. Any other Frockies out there? :)

Anyways, you can look at the rest of the pictures we took last night in Joel's Miniature Pictures Gallery.

Enjoy!

I caught this on Chaosium's Cthluhu mailing list this morning, and I just had to share it with the rest of the world.

THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS 'Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the train Not a creature was stirring, save Blackadder in pain. The shotguns were hung by the chimney with care, In hopes that Cthulhu soon would be there. The investigators were nestled all snug in their bunks, Arm, chest and leg packed away safely in trunks. And Betty in her kerchief, and Higgins in his cap, Had just settled down for a long winter's nap - When out in the lounge there arose such a clatter We all sprang from our beds to see what was the matter. Reggie tripped over Baldrick with his usual panache, Tommy fell onto William who threw up in the trash. Blackadder burst into the room and started to shout, fell over the trunk and knocked himself out. When what sight to our wondering eyes should bring but a miniature sleigh and eight tiny squidling. With a cephalapod driver so slimey and blue, we knew in a moment it must be Cthulhu! More rapid than Elders his spawn as they came, and he squealed and screeched and called them by name. "Now, Basher! now, Rancid! now, Cancer and Xixen! On, Vomit! on, Putrid! on, Spawner and Blitzen! - To the end of the train, spread your horror and fright, do it quickly and well or no manflesh tonight!" As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly, When they meet with an obstacle mount to the sky, So down to the train the squidlings they oozed, With a sleigh full of Deep Ones - all part of the ruse. And then, in a twinkling, as we witnessed this spectacle, we heard the slithering and sucking of each tiny tentacle. As Blackadder sat up and William gave a huge belch Down the chimney Cthulhu came with a squelch: He was covered all in slime in his eye an evil wink, And his tentacles all covered with ashes and ink. A bundle of lawn gnomes he had flung on his back, And he looked like Hell's Peddler just opening his sack. His scales, how they glistened! his eyes, how merry! His cheeks were all rotten his nose grey and hairy; His cavernous mouth was draw up like a bow, and the blood on his chin had an unholy glow. The stump of a leg he held tight in his teeth, And the blood, it encircled his head like a wreath. He had a broad face and a big moldy belly That shook, when he laughed, like a boat full of jelly. He was laughing and screeching - a right jolly old squid: And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of my dread; A wink of an eye, and a twist of his head, Soon gave me to know we might soon all be dead. He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work, And filled all the stockings with the Lad, Lass and Turk. Then, curling a tentacle around Baldrick's nose, And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose. He metamorphed in his sleigh, to his spawn gave a shriek, And away they all went with an ungodly reek. But I heard him exclaim, ere they oozed out of sight, "Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!"

Cannibals, Rednecks and Transgendered Astronauts

Well, I just sent off my preregistration email for GZG-ECC VI. Hopefully, I'll be the first to preregister for the third year in a row.

You know, it'd be really easy to just write a little script for this. I wonder why I don't bother. :)

Well, I ran my latest CoC game last night, and, in fact, it was the first time I'd run an adventure I wrote myself. You'd think with all of the CoC I've played in the past that would've happened already. But, there is plenty of quite good pre-written stuff from Chaosium out there that kept me and my players happy.

Anyways, I had initially invited 9 people, which then became 6 as the list of attendees, which then turned to 2 (Randy and Joel) by the time we actually started the game. Once we began though, we had a good time. Enough weird, scary, and freaky stuff to fill a couple hours. One creature that was able to withstand a head-on collision with a Navigator that was probably going about 60+ when it hit. And, of course, they left it there. Who knows where it could end up next? :)

Thanks to a number of threads over at the RPG.net Forums, including Improving Rifts, which eventually led me to the Palladium Rifts forum, I am now all psyched up again for Rifts.

I am not a huge fan of the system though. I can work with it if I have to; I have played in the past, and as hard as it might be to admit it, there is a feel to the rules than can be kind of nice (once you get past chargen at least). They feel very Rifts-ish. Perhaps it is time (once again) for me to declare that I will port the setting to another system so my group and I can play that instead. Then the problem becomes, what system? GURPS? d20 or some bastardization of d20 Modern? Hero? Some system I've never tried or heard of? Or maybe I'll just rework the Palladium system instead of doing a whole setting port.

Any ideas? Suggestions?

Night Of The Caped Cadavers and Sugar-Coated Sacraments.

My apologies for not posting these sooner. I've been pretty busy lately.

Never Leave Your Nads Behind and Death By Thumbs.

Enjoy!

Well, the guys found a little workaround and got Mailman working. Woo hoo!

Now everybody who wants to get in on my CoC Halloween game can sign up for coc-halloween here. I'm going to try and get the discussion started in a day or two.

As you've probably noticed by now, I've reimplemented the Random Game Quotes in the main index.

Enjoy!

If you'd like to submit a quote of your own, just add a comment here.

How oddly appropirate? I send out a notice that I am going to try and run a CoC game around Halloween, and KoDT has just started a storyline about Scream of Kachoolu.

Then again, come to think of it, it's probably because we are nearing Halloween. Therefore, I am an idiot. :)

Thanks to my constant pestering, my host was able to get Mailman up and running finally.

Now I can run that mailing list for my Halloween CoC game!

Fun at peternever's today. For those who don't already know, we're playing the Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil module. We got ourselves into a fight with a number of hobgoblins, goblins, and a dire ape. Thanks to peternever rolling about three crits on one character (our cleric, no less) in the first four rounds, we were pretty much toast. By the end of the fight, Hawk and Phineas (the cleric) were dead, and Kain and Barnabus had retreated into the tower we had just walked out of to throw alchemist's fire and fireball beads (from a necklase of fireballs) down on the group of creatures.

They eventually killed them all (except for one wiley goblin), retrieved what was left of our bodies and took us back to town to be raised.

Ab3 on RPG.net's forums :What Do You Mean You Lost My Wife's Kidney?

A new story from Ab3 (on RPG.net): Kobayashi Maru With Random Violence and Supermodels

For some reason or another, I'm trying to get Joel to start writing a blog of sorts. For those of you who do know him, I think you'll understand why I think he is very well suited to writing one. I'm sure theer's plenty of people out there who would love to keep up with all of his gaming, mini, and prop making activities. Or at least the guys we game with. :)

Tell me, do these scream Hawk or what?

Eagle Jewelry

I splurged on Friday. It always makes me feel better when I buy games, and I had plenty on my mind this weekend. That probably explains why I've got shelves and shelves of them at home. :)

Anyways, I picked up The Riddle of Steel by Driftwood Publishing based on a number of good things I'd heard about the game in reviews and online, and Exalted by White Wolf because of the overwhelming amount of praise it seems to be getting on the RPG.net forums.

I managed to get through The Riddle of Steel (or at least most of it) this weekend. Definately looks like it's worth a try. If I can find some time in the next couple weeks, I think I am going to gen up some characters and run a little combat. That's where alot of the attention this game has been getting has been concentrated. This game has a combat system that's at least equal to (if not exceding) the GURPS combat system in terms of detail and realism.

I've only read some of the intro stories and setting text in the Exalted book, but I'm definately liking it so far. I can't wait to get into more of the history of the setting.

Well, it seems there's a chance Ted's game could go under before it even begins. If that happens to be the case, I may attempt to start my own weekly game. No more of the "every third Wednesday or so" games, there's too much downtime in that for me, and we never get anywhere.

If I do run a game, and assuming I can get together enough of what I've been thinking about to be coherent, I'd like to try running it in my own little setting. Hopefully, when I can find the time during all my work design work lately, I can putting something together and post it here.

Monty Python Mishaps In The Deepest Pit Of Homebrew Hell

You know, I may have to go ahead and add some of the lines from his stories to my Game Quote list.

I love video game bad guys. I'll walk down the stairs, smash a few of their minions, and keep going at a cautious pace until I start getting low on spells and hitpoints. Then I'll go outside the room and back up the stairs, where I'll rest for 8-16 hours. Then I go back down the stairs and continue the process. Apparently, these beings that are living underground have no concept of how exactly these "stair" things work. :)

I took the bad DIMM back to Best Buy and got a new one. No problem there. Took it home, tested it out, and everything was working fine.

Then I went ahead and installed Icewind Dale. Bad idea. I lost track of how much time I was playing that last night. At least a couple hours. And I fear I will be forced to play it again tonight, and the next, and so on.

I'm in trouble. :)

Read the Hacknoia storyline while you still can!

Achy Breaky Mythos

I stumbled across the following threads on RPG.net's forums today. I don't think I've ever read anything funnier.

• A Night At The Inn, A Day At The Racists
• The God Trip
• The day I killed the entire party before the first combat encounter...

Well, I finally did it. I wrote a background story (version 0.1) for my character, Hawk, in Peter's fantasy campaign. Here it is for anyone who is interested. Suggestions are certainly welcome, especially from people who are familiar with the character.

For those who might be curious, I used Lout to generate that document and here is the source file I wrote.