I lost some time once...

This shouldn't take long, but I wanted to write it real quick.

After last night's melancholy post about space, I ran into an old LJ community that my friends and I formed so we could share posts that our gaming group considered relevant. I wound up reading several of the posts, and reminiscing about those old games.

They were plagued with the usual problems, from clashing personalities to bad schedules, but I still look back on them fondly. Every Sunday, like clockwork, I knew that I'd get off work at 1pm and head over to nyminal's place, where I'd sit and game with him, flumpdoria, kheadrin, lordreaibn, makeshift_guru, mfsfreak, and -- as always -- strieson. Obviously, the group makeup changed over time, too. Kheadrin decided to finish school (though I half suspect that he got tired of the rest of us always fighting during the game). Flumpdoria moved to Canada. Nyminal got married and moved to Southaven. Makeshift_Guru kind of fell off the planet.* MFSFreak got a job that required him to work. :) LordReaibn got busy with work and church. Strieson is the only one that I could call, and would show at a moment's notice to play.

Since the demise of the regular Sunday game back in May 2007, I've tried to get the game started back up, with limited success that ranged from "almost but not quite" to "spectacular failure". The closest I got was last year, when the game I was running got put on indefinite hold because I found myself promoted at work. We'd played semi-regularly for a few months. Something was in the air, though, because we destroyed Nyminal's carefully crafted Shadowrun game. My promotion on the tail of that ended the whole shebang.

I've since started running a game on Fridays for a group of people that includes strieson, air_n_darkness, and who folks I'm going to call J and M. It's not a bad game. Having new people helps create a fresh experience. I'm having fun, even. However, part of me misses actually gaming with Nyminal. He and his friend, R, helped make the games on Sunday -- especially at the end -- fun.

To that end, I contacted Nyminal about possibly doing a game on Saturday afternoons, possibly once a month (since I have to work most Saturdays). He was all for it, and I admit that I'm kind of excited about it. This will be the first time, effectively, that I've played a fantasy RPG since 2007, with the exception of some 4e games that LordReaibn ran (he's a great DM, but I do not like the system; I played in maybe 6-8 sessions total). Of course, Strieson was quick to point out that I played in our Friday game when he started it, but I pointed out that was maybe 3 weeks total. :)

So, I'm going to be playing Pathfinder, most likely in a homebrew setting. I'm going to push for the default deities, because that makes life INFINITELY easier. I'm going to consider classes, prestige classes, feats, skills, background, and personality. I'm even going to mention the 800 lb gorilla in the room: how much do we mine from the old 3.x D&D material? Should we keep it Pathfinder only? What about point buy for character builds? I guess I'm going to put together a list of questions for us to discuss when we convene for the first session. Maybe I could create a "group" on Facebook for just that one game, so we can hash out the details ahead of time, and start playing on day one?

Anyway, it's late and I'm working early, so I'm going to bed. Sleep well, all, and don't be afraid to follow your dreams, even the small ones. You never know how it's going to go...

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* - He still lives in Memphis. Maybe the time is coming, sooner rather than later, to see how he is doing, and get him reacquainted with everyone.

Work last night was not bad, though no count got done until the end of my shift. It seems the opener forgot to declare the office, and just ran the Sales & Cash reports. We did it when I got in, but things were boofed by then. The night went pretty smoothly, though, so my stress level was reasonably low.

I managed to get everything done by just before 2, though I stayed to cover the night checker's 30 minute break. When I got off, I picked up some produce, canned veggies, and tuna. I thought about trying to improve my eating habits last night, so I jumped on the idea while it was still fresh in my mind.

I came home, and took care of some bills, finally going to bed a little after 5am.

As long as today can go smoothly, I'll be delighted.

The more I think and talk about 4e, the more I find myself liking what I've seen. As a direct result of this, perhaps, I haven't really been logging into either of the MMOs I've been playing. I even officially let WoW lapse last night. I think that I want to pick up some of the new source material, especially the Player's Handbook 2. Swordmage from the Forgotten Realms setting sounds like a bucketful of awesome, too. Sure, it utilizes the "threat" mechanic that I was so disdainful of, but the class is a melee proficient caster, who protects his allies by forcing his enemies to avoid engaging him or take damage, yet when they run, he ports to them, and repeat the process. It's a unique concept, and one that seems to appropriately mesh melee combat with casting into a cohesive whole.

Anyway, I'm going to do some reading in the DMG. I have time to tweak my adventure some, so I think I will.

I've been thinking about how I miss D&D for its own sake, and was gonna post an update regarding how things have been going in that quarter, but I realized I was getting unnecessarily grim. So, instead, a bulleted list:

• I wound up dropping lordreaibn's Sunday 4e D&D game, due to work-related stress.


• My own 4e/3e game was stillborn, due to work-related stress.


• I found out today that a variety of publishers are not going to 4e, and -- given the public's tendency to use the most current version of anything -- I'm left wondering if there will be a future for those companies.


• Being really tired cools my enthusiasm for D&D in any form.


• I came up with an idea for a noir-style Eberron game set almost entirely in Sharn. I've since decided that it'd work best as a short-term campaign (maybe levels 5-10?).


• I want to use Pathfinder (Paizo's 3.5 continuation), but I like encounter creation in 4e a *LOT*. Enough that I'm still conflicted regarding which I'd rather use.


• I miss D&D when it was "Dungeons & Dragons" because there was a real honest chance you could run into one or both of those in a game session.


• In January, 4e is going to market "Power Cards" -- nonrandom decks of cards featuring powers for a given character class. While I can appreciate the utility of such a product, I confess that the thought of pushing an RPG to use both miniatures and cards makes me nervous, and miss the item above just a little more.


• I miss those days when all I needed for a game were some willing players. We'd happily roll characters, and the action would bring itself. If I had a module, then we'd work our way into that, but the fun was simplified. Now, it's "noir-style Eberron game" or "4e game using a home brew campaign in which the PCs must save the world" or "massive module to take most of the guesswork out of the game".

I'll post more later, and not just about D&D.

Work is a touchy subject for me this week, for example. Let me just say that I'm really ready for a little time off. REALLY READY. >.<;;

So, work has settled back down after all that Fourth of July selling. I'm even settling better into my job (though I've not changed my mind about looking for better). I'm even getting to slip out of work early on Sundays right now (it usually costs me -- at most -- 3 and a half hours off my week, and trust me, the mental health benefit is more than worth that much).

Today, I came home, made some lunch, and was thinking about the 4e D&D game I was gonna go play in at lordreaibn's place this afternoon. Well, around 3pm, I found myself laying down "to read" (yeah, right). Two hours later, I woke up, groggy and fuzzy-headed, to find mfsfreak and strieson in the living room, watching American Dad. mfsfreak told me that lordreaibn canceled the game at 430pm. I was kind of pleased, since I wasn't feeling up to going anyway, but something felt... wrong.

It has occurred to me that perhaps I'm not as into D&D anymore as I once was. I still love the concept, and the new system (4th Edition) plays very well, but I no longer enjoy making characters all day and picking out gear and setting aside time on a weekly basis to play. I'm no more mature or anything. My interests are just evolving, I guess. I mean, I think of D&D campaign ideas, and I *LOVE* them, and can almost plan them out in my head, but when it comes to actual planning and preparation, I lose interest. I need to consider the possibility that I'd rather write a story instead of DMing a campaign.

My latest idea involves the Eberron campaign setting. When I first saw it, I realized that Eberron was uniquely suited to running a "noir" campaign. I even compared it to a fantasy-based Shadowrun once, and said, "it's great for Shadowrun, but it's not really a D&D campaign setting." So, I have been thinking about just that for the last couple of days. Do a 1940s-style, film-noir-esque, D&D campaign that is focused almost entirely in the city of Sharn, with character races and classes that reflect the harsh city life. The only high society folks will be those that come in for help, rather than being the characters.

My one problem is what system to use. I like how 4e doesn't require magic items for players to be a force to be reckoned with at higher levels, but all Eberron material I have is tied to 3e. I could theoretically convert to Pathfinder, since I still want to give that system a proper road test, but 3e's reliance on magic items will, in the long run, stifle the noir-ish flavor I'm aiming for (Mr. Rick in "Casablanca" didn't have a +5 Revolver of Nazi Slaying that fired Adamantite Bullets). However, I worry that 4e's trimmed down rule set (no social interaction mechanics like there used to be) will involuntarily limit role playing by those in my game. (While I am of the mind that not having a rule opens up opportunities, those I've played with have traditionally used their sheet to determine what they can do.) Pathfinder is more or less an extension of 3e and, as such, runs the risk of bringing along all of 3e's baggage.

Still, should I be doing a campaign at all, if I'm worried that I'm losing interest in D&D in general? Or am I, deep down, so eager to run a game, that it's ruining my playing?

I guess I will just have to think on it, and get some sleep for now. That nap didn't help me as much as I thought it did. I welcome thoughts and suggestions regarding both my plight and my campaign idea, no matter what they are. I work 10a-7p, so I better get to sleep.

So, I totally wasted yesterday, trying to decide what kind of character I am going to play in lordreaibn's new 4e campaign. I mean, seriously. I was reading info on his setting, arranging stats, and looking at races and classes most of the day. The worst part is that I didn't even get something picked. I don't know why it's eluding me so. Of course, I'm tired now, so I can't pick one now (little pessimistic/fatalistic when I'm tired).

Last night, though, I ran Charles and strieson in some 4e combat. Aside from my own inexperience with the rules, it was a blast. It may look more modular (and it is), but it's not less D&D. It was a LOT more fun, IMO, than a typical first level encounter from 3e.

I work 6a-3p today, then 4p-1a on Thursday, and then I'm off on Friday. Talk about a messed up schedule. Oh well, gotta run. Hopefully, I do something meaningful this afternoon.

Okay, I've not geeked out on this journal for a while, so just smile and nod if this isn't for you. :)

From a post on Boing Boing, screenshots of the new D&D web-based character creator have been posted. The interesting one is the one that lists the eight classes (it's already been said that the initial launch will have eight classes only, and there has been MUCH speculation about which eight are making it).

So, without further ado:

Cleric
Fighter
Paladin
Ranger
Rogue
Warlock
Warlord
Wizard

I think that's a pretty solid list of classes. Druid? Would be nice, but a Ranger/Wizard with a carefully chosen spell list could function similarly (or Ranger/Cleric?). Barbarian? True, there would be no Rage ability, but Ranger/Fighter would be closest otherwise. Bard? Who played that anyway? :) (Though, I'd lean towards a Fighter/Wizard(Cleric?)/Rogue, personally.)

It'll be interesting to see how these work in play. From what I've been reading, things are changing quite a bit. Anyone have any opinion about 4e yet? Even based off the early information?