A very interesting article on the pitfalls and pinnacles of writing character deaths. Highly recommended. http://blamebrampton.livejournal.com/240742.html?style=mine#cutid1
http://blamebrampton.livejournal.com/240742.html?style=mine#cutid1
Sunday, 29 April 2012
Thursday, 26 April 2012
The intrepid Londonites join Setanta on his borrowed boat as he waits for them on the shores of the Isle of Man in...
The intrepid Londonites join Setanta on his borrowed boat as he waits for them on the shores of the Isle of Man in the Otherworld. They set off, minus the sea serpent, but with a little encouragement who knows what might have happened? An escort of that size might well have precluded any need for stealth at all. Not that people were thinking about such things as subtlety, as will be seen later.
The magical map guides them through the darkness and some of the characters hear the slap of waves on rock. The map says press on, but the boat disagrees and tries to veer away from the rocky island, hidden by illusion, that they are steering for. Setanta fails a strength check fortunately, and the boat scrapes by the island, assisted by the waterworking skills of a couple of the mages on board with handy shape water spells so that they do not end up a mass of bruises and splinters on the shore.
The Way of the Empire OR We'll just sail blithely, completely outnumbered and possibly out magicked, into what might be a trap, without trying to be at all stealthy or disguise ourselves at all, because Harry the Fixer is ENGLISH, it's what they do! Even though we have perhaps one of the best Illusionists in London in our party... Flashbacks to Lord Pincushion...
The sound of the scrape and the raised voices of the PC's alert a Fishman patrol who swim - through the air - toward them. The PC's make short work of them and continue...EVENTUALLY they realise that a head on approach might not be the best course of action once a castled island and several other islands, all crawling with Fishmen appear.
Kuval makes the boat appear as a bit of driftwood, and off they go to where some very successful vision checks have detected a very nasty ceremony on a farther island.
A shark swims by, the only fish they've seen since they entered the area, maybe attracted by the blood threading up from the slain Fishman from the 1st patrol. No one thinks to check it for anything...odd. Oh well.
Time to disrupt the ceremony, ask for the Blessing of Earth, and free all the merfolk who are being tortured and killed to fuel the rite. And then home for scones and jam, hurrah!
There's a landing at the base of Abominable Ceremony Island but it's guarded by some competant fishmen some of whom are quite as good at combat magic as our heroes. At least they were on paper. They appear to be terrible at rolling dice though, and I think Gr'shnk's Exploding Fireball was the only thing that caused any damage, a measly two points.
Up on the top of Ceremonial Abomination Island the ceremony continues, but Lord Fingolfin charges up from the beach head and tries to engage the enemy mages who are poring over their character sheets saying to each other, "I should be doing better than this!" They don't, though and withdraw, hoping to ambush the Elf.
Kuval's cobra has been set on the rest of the fishmen, and multiple illusions of the same cause the rest of the beach defenders to fall back in panic.
Sung Pow has had the brilliant idea of apporting himself and Lord Setanta to the top where the ceremony is going full bore. Setanta is trying to fight his ríastrad or battle frenzy, and Sung Pow intends to use him as a grenade - certainly a distraction - while he frees and arms the 15 or so captive merfolk.
They reach the top of the island and Lord Setanta bounds joyfully into battle, spells, weapons and curses having apparently no effect on him as he does the best Warner Bros. Tasmanian Devil impression this side of anachronism. Sung Pow gets to freeing Merfolk who cheerfully start releasing each other and stabbing distracted guards. They explain through successful Gesture rolls, that there are many more merfolk, and fishmen back at the Castle Island.
Meanwhile, back at Castle Island, the shark messenger has relayed the problem, the result being a huge call out to the garrison there to go clean up the human/elven invaders on Abominable Ceremony Island, in addition to the patrols already aware of the problem. The PC's become aware of a couple of hundred fishmen mages and warriors approaching from Castle Island. Th'skrr tries a Control Person on Harry the Fixer and misses. Twice, disgusted, she looks at her character sheet but is then shot.
During the course of time, everyone except for Lord Fingolfin has prayed to the Earth for the stilling of the Earthquake/Volcano spell...
Gaea kindly hints that it might be appropriate, and Fingolfin caps the requests.
Earth Goddess now activated, and asks them, quite reasonably, what they would like.
They tell her, some in more detail than others.
The earth is calmed. Their priority mission completed, the characters must now roll Will to stay asleep. Kuval fails and wakes up, vanishing. A minute or so later, all the Fishmen just...stop...as if in a swoon or dead. The merfolk start swimming back toward the castle, to rescue the prisoners there.
This leaves them with a problem, how to get rampaging Lord Setanta back to his calmer self. Sung Pow uses some narcotic dust but it has no effect.
As with his namesake, Lord Setanta will be embarrassed into normality by the sight of ladies with no clothes on, but as Kuval is gone and his ability to conjure the sight of very abundant temple maidens isn't available, what do they do?
Well, there are all these mermaids around...it's worth a shot thinks Harry.
He waves down a mermaid, and eventually establishes that she speaks French. He rolls a French language roll that makes him sound like a French nobleman, and explains, hesitantly, what she needs to do.
Harry: "You must 'show yourself' to him"
GM: "Roll to look at her face when you're talking to her."
Harry, rolls "I succeed. Just"
Fingolfin, cheerfully "I fail!"
GM "You didn't even try!"
Fingolfin, even more cheerfully "Nope!"
One by one, more will rolls are failed, as the party get back to the castle and assist with the freeing of the merfolk. Lord Setanta is brought back to sanity and, er...Sung Pow or Harry, I forget which, tries to get him to wake up.
Now Setanta is feeling the effects of the drug...he can't wake up. "I'm so tired" he complains.
"Lord Tan, you need to wake up so that you can go to sleep!"
He tries to wake up, but fails.
He advises that he will catch up. Reluctantly he is left...
When Sung Pow wakes up he has breakfast and then takes the antidote to the Irish House, where under his ministration Setanta wakes up and immediately sticks his head under the pillow again.
The party now have the Blessing of Water as well as The Blessing of Earth.
Although the major part of this adventure is over, there are some loose ends...the remains of the Fishmen in London, the Fishman prisoner, and what about Jonathon, who reports noises around the house as Harry slept, which soon turned into the snarling and growling of some great cat, and then silence.
The magical map guides them through the darkness and some of the characters hear the slap of waves on rock. The map says press on, but the boat disagrees and tries to veer away from the rocky island, hidden by illusion, that they are steering for. Setanta fails a strength check fortunately, and the boat scrapes by the island, assisted by the waterworking skills of a couple of the mages on board with handy shape water spells so that they do not end up a mass of bruises and splinters on the shore.
The Way of the Empire OR We'll just sail blithely, completely outnumbered and possibly out magicked, into what might be a trap, without trying to be at all stealthy or disguise ourselves at all, because Harry the Fixer is ENGLISH, it's what they do! Even though we have perhaps one of the best Illusionists in London in our party... Flashbacks to Lord Pincushion...
The sound of the scrape and the raised voices of the PC's alert a Fishman patrol who swim - through the air - toward them. The PC's make short work of them and continue...EVENTUALLY they realise that a head on approach might not be the best course of action once a castled island and several other islands, all crawling with Fishmen appear.
Kuval makes the boat appear as a bit of driftwood, and off they go to where some very successful vision checks have detected a very nasty ceremony on a farther island.
A shark swims by, the only fish they've seen since they entered the area, maybe attracted by the blood threading up from the slain Fishman from the 1st patrol. No one thinks to check it for anything...odd. Oh well.
Time to disrupt the ceremony, ask for the Blessing of Earth, and free all the merfolk who are being tortured and killed to fuel the rite. And then home for scones and jam, hurrah!
There's a landing at the base of Abominable Ceremony Island but it's guarded by some competant fishmen some of whom are quite as good at combat magic as our heroes. At least they were on paper. They appear to be terrible at rolling dice though, and I think Gr'shnk's Exploding Fireball was the only thing that caused any damage, a measly two points.
Up on the top of Ceremonial Abomination Island the ceremony continues, but Lord Fingolfin charges up from the beach head and tries to engage the enemy mages who are poring over their character sheets saying to each other, "I should be doing better than this!" They don't, though and withdraw, hoping to ambush the Elf.
Kuval's cobra has been set on the rest of the fishmen, and multiple illusions of the same cause the rest of the beach defenders to fall back in panic.
Sung Pow has had the brilliant idea of apporting himself and Lord Setanta to the top where the ceremony is going full bore. Setanta is trying to fight his ríastrad or battle frenzy, and Sung Pow intends to use him as a grenade - certainly a distraction - while he frees and arms the 15 or so captive merfolk.
They reach the top of the island and Lord Setanta bounds joyfully into battle, spells, weapons and curses having apparently no effect on him as he does the best Warner Bros. Tasmanian Devil impression this side of anachronism. Sung Pow gets to freeing Merfolk who cheerfully start releasing each other and stabbing distracted guards. They explain through successful Gesture rolls, that there are many more merfolk, and fishmen back at the Castle Island.
Meanwhile, back at Castle Island, the shark messenger has relayed the problem, the result being a huge call out to the garrison there to go clean up the human/elven invaders on Abominable Ceremony Island, in addition to the patrols already aware of the problem. The PC's become aware of a couple of hundred fishmen mages and warriors approaching from Castle Island. Th'skrr tries a Control Person on Harry the Fixer and misses. Twice, disgusted, she looks at her character sheet but is then shot.
During the course of time, everyone except for Lord Fingolfin has prayed to the Earth for the stilling of the Earthquake/Volcano spell...
Gaea kindly hints that it might be appropriate, and Fingolfin caps the requests.
Earth Goddess now activated, and asks them, quite reasonably, what they would like.
They tell her, some in more detail than others.
The earth is calmed. Their priority mission completed, the characters must now roll Will to stay asleep. Kuval fails and wakes up, vanishing. A minute or so later, all the Fishmen just...stop...as if in a swoon or dead. The merfolk start swimming back toward the castle, to rescue the prisoners there.
This leaves them with a problem, how to get rampaging Lord Setanta back to his calmer self. Sung Pow uses some narcotic dust but it has no effect.
As with his namesake, Lord Setanta will be embarrassed into normality by the sight of ladies with no clothes on, but as Kuval is gone and his ability to conjure the sight of very abundant temple maidens isn't available, what do they do?
Well, there are all these mermaids around...it's worth a shot thinks Harry.
He waves down a mermaid, and eventually establishes that she speaks French. He rolls a French language roll that makes him sound like a French nobleman, and explains, hesitantly, what she needs to do.
Harry: "You must 'show yourself' to him"
GM: "Roll to look at her face when you're talking to her."
Harry, rolls "I succeed. Just"
Fingolfin, cheerfully "I fail!"
GM "You didn't even try!"
Fingolfin, even more cheerfully "Nope!"
One by one, more will rolls are failed, as the party get back to the castle and assist with the freeing of the merfolk. Lord Setanta is brought back to sanity and, er...Sung Pow or Harry, I forget which, tries to get him to wake up.
Now Setanta is feeling the effects of the drug...he can't wake up. "I'm so tired" he complains.
"Lord Tan, you need to wake up so that you can go to sleep!"
He tries to wake up, but fails.
He advises that he will catch up. Reluctantly he is left...
When Sung Pow wakes up he has breakfast and then takes the antidote to the Irish House, where under his ministration Setanta wakes up and immediately sticks his head under the pillow again.
The party now have the Blessing of Water as well as The Blessing of Earth.
Although the major part of this adventure is over, there are some loose ends...the remains of the Fishmen in London, the Fishman prisoner, and what about Jonathon, who reports noises around the house as Harry slept, which soon turned into the snarling and growling of some great cat, and then silence.
Just finished A Darkness Forged in Fire.
Just finished A Darkness Forged in Fire. I particularly liked the ex-Royal Engineer Dwarf. I can certainly see where Gaz gets the inspiration for Fingolfin from - an elvish main character who has hated trees since he fell out of one and broke his arm when he was ten. A very entertaining read.
Friday, 20 April 2012
Marriage equality would be nice.
Marriage equality would be nice.
http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/House_of_Representatives_Committees?url=spla/bill%20marriage/index.htm&t=dXNlcmlkPTQyMjc1MixlbWFpbGlkPTcyNA==
http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/House_of_Representatives_Committees?url=spla/bill+marriage/index.htm&t=dXNlcmlkPTQyMjc1MixlbWFpbGlkPTcyNA%3D%3D
http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/House_of_Representatives_Committees?url=spla/bill%20marriage/index.htm&t=dXNlcmlkPTQyMjc1MixlbWFpbGlkPTcyNA==
http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/House_of_Representatives_Committees?url=spla/bill+marriage/index.htm&t=dXNlcmlkPTQyMjc1MixlbWFpbGlkPTcyNA%3D%3D
Wednesday, 18 April 2012
My sweety is driving home...sort of. Be safe out there everyone!
My sweety is driving home...sort of. Be safe out there everyone!
Tuesday, 17 April 2012
In last week's game, the party leave the captured but helpful Fishman with the Irish Guard after Setanta inform them...
In last week's game, the party leave the captured but helpful Fishman with the Irish Guard after Setanta inform them that Manannan isn't keen on these pesky people interfering with the sea floor and would like him to do something about it.
the party pack what they're taking with them and wait for the ship that Manannán mac Lir sends for them to arrive.
They lay down to sleep with no difficulty whatsoever, and pretty soon there's a knock at the door and Sung Pow, Kuval, Harry and Fingolfin are picked up by Lord Setanta who is grudgingly sailing the boat which helpfully expands to the size of the QEII to take on Fingolfin's luggage, alla Skidbladnir.
Kuval decides to bring along his cobra. Setanta experiments with not steering the boat, but it evidently not a particularly self steering model. Setanta doesn't really care, he doesn't want to be here due to an embarrassing incident when he was young but is obliged to Manannan. At one stage he's vaguely considering just letting the boat drift away and possibly crash but is asked to take the tiller by Harry, who is the only person who seems to have noticed.
Jonathon and Sara are still asleep and are left behind. Hopefully they will be alright, although it's clear that messengers from Harry are being intercepted (after Harry's interview with some confused runners) and that the place is possibly being watched...
And so into the night they sail..., up into the air which soon becomes dark and full of fishes great and small, all rushing towards a dimly glowing shore.
Lord Fingolfin protests the situation, how can there be an island when they're underwater, how can they be breathing, how can there be fish...
Harry advises him to take it in his stride, these things happen in the Otherworld.
Perhaps prompted by the elf's suppositions, an enormous serpent becomes apparent following the boat, and quickly gains speed, the thin light gleaming thinly on its enormous teeth. It makes to bite off Setanta's head, who ignores the whole situation with disdain and fatalism, but Kuval interposes himself and gives it a skritch.
As always, his way with snakes is a wonder.
Sung Pow dismisses it as a dragon.
Setanta waits grumpily with the boat while the party goes to meet the son of Lir. It's a largely civil meeting, and Manannan gives them a map to get to the place where the Fishmen are setting the earthquake spell and somewhat sketchy instructions to invoke the Blessing of Earth which they got from Echidna for rescuing Orthrus back from contemporary London.
All of this is raising somewhat theological arguments amongst the party and the mixing of Greek and Celtic mythology.
Review your characters' abilities, spells and especially those abilities you think will be useful in the situation. Spend character points now because you will not be able to once the session starts next week.
What will your character do in a sudden crisis? Does your character have combat reflexes? What will happen once the Blessing is Invoked? And how does that work exactly?
And lastly, can anyone read this map?
the party pack what they're taking with them and wait for the ship that Manannán mac Lir sends for them to arrive.
They lay down to sleep with no difficulty whatsoever, and pretty soon there's a knock at the door and Sung Pow, Kuval, Harry and Fingolfin are picked up by Lord Setanta who is grudgingly sailing the boat which helpfully expands to the size of the QEII to take on Fingolfin's luggage, alla Skidbladnir.
Kuval decides to bring along his cobra. Setanta experiments with not steering the boat, but it evidently not a particularly self steering model. Setanta doesn't really care, he doesn't want to be here due to an embarrassing incident when he was young but is obliged to Manannan. At one stage he's vaguely considering just letting the boat drift away and possibly crash but is asked to take the tiller by Harry, who is the only person who seems to have noticed.
Jonathon and Sara are still asleep and are left behind. Hopefully they will be alright, although it's clear that messengers from Harry are being intercepted (after Harry's interview with some confused runners) and that the place is possibly being watched...
And so into the night they sail..., up into the air which soon becomes dark and full of fishes great and small, all rushing towards a dimly glowing shore.
Lord Fingolfin protests the situation, how can there be an island when they're underwater, how can they be breathing, how can there be fish...
Harry advises him to take it in his stride, these things happen in the Otherworld.
Perhaps prompted by the elf's suppositions, an enormous serpent becomes apparent following the boat, and quickly gains speed, the thin light gleaming thinly on its enormous teeth. It makes to bite off Setanta's head, who ignores the whole situation with disdain and fatalism, but Kuval interposes himself and gives it a skritch.
As always, his way with snakes is a wonder.
Sung Pow dismisses it as a dragon.
Setanta waits grumpily with the boat while the party goes to meet the son of Lir. It's a largely civil meeting, and Manannan gives them a map to get to the place where the Fishmen are setting the earthquake spell and somewhat sketchy instructions to invoke the Blessing of Earth which they got from Echidna for rescuing Orthrus back from contemporary London.
All of this is raising somewhat theological arguments amongst the party and the mixing of Greek and Celtic mythology.
Review your characters' abilities, spells and especially those abilities you think will be useful in the situation. Spend character points now because you will not be able to once the session starts next week.
What will your character do in a sudden crisis? Does your character have combat reflexes? What will happen once the Blessing is Invoked? And how does that work exactly?
And lastly, can anyone read this map?
Thursday, 12 April 2012
Well, this is the first time in decades I've been to the drive-in, and it was immense fun.
Well, this is the first time in decades I've been to the drive-in, and it was immense fun.
The movie, Pirates: Band of Misfits was a very fitting beginning to what I hope is a continued visit to this venue. We were joined by Steveg, Maureen, ariaflame, possbert and my mum who drove rdmasters and myself to the Galaxy Drive In.
The event was only slightly marred by Mum's radiator blowing up when we reached the theatre.
But for the rest of it, the smell of hamburgers and chiko rolls, and hot chips, the surprisingly crowded drive in and the flitting of us and others from one car to the other amidst the smell of coffee and chocolate and gingerbread was a lot of fun.
Even more fun than I remember it from the 60's, 70's and 80's! So we will go again.
Thank you Poss for your pink bucket, and thank you Steveg and Maureen for trailing us safely home, and thank you Elaine for your kind offer of an additional escort.
We're so glad you all came, and not just because of your pink bucket and escort services.
What a lot of fun!
I recommend the venue - the cafe is useless for coeliacs, but the coffee is probably fine, at least. But the screen and parking is fine and it's a really nice experience if you haven't been to the drives lately or at all. Particularly recommend it for people with kids too, judging by the amount of advertising for real estate before the movie the pressure on them to just sell up must be immense.
Every child should have an opportunity to go to the drive ins. There were heaps of kids there tonight and they were all very well behaved and if they were noisy I simply didn't notice.
Hope to see you all at the drives! I'll be monitoring what movies are coming up, and if any of them take my fancy I shall post my intent of going and maybe garner some company.
The movie, Pirates: Band of Misfits was a very fitting beginning to what I hope is a continued visit to this venue. We were joined by Steveg, Maureen, ariaflame, possbert and my mum who drove rdmasters and myself to the Galaxy Drive In.
The event was only slightly marred by Mum's radiator blowing up when we reached the theatre.
But for the rest of it, the smell of hamburgers and chiko rolls, and hot chips, the surprisingly crowded drive in and the flitting of us and others from one car to the other amidst the smell of coffee and chocolate and gingerbread was a lot of fun.
Even more fun than I remember it from the 60's, 70's and 80's! So we will go again.
Thank you Poss for your pink bucket, and thank you Steveg and Maureen for trailing us safely home, and thank you Elaine for your kind offer of an additional escort.
We're so glad you all came, and not just because of your pink bucket and escort services.
What a lot of fun!
I recommend the venue - the cafe is useless for coeliacs, but the coffee is probably fine, at least. But the screen and parking is fine and it's a really nice experience if you haven't been to the drives lately or at all. Particularly recommend it for people with kids too, judging by the amount of advertising for real estate before the movie the pressure on them to just sell up must be immense.
Every child should have an opportunity to go to the drive ins. There were heaps of kids there tonight and they were all very well behaved and if they were noisy I simply didn't notice.
Hope to see you all at the drives! I'll be monitoring what movies are coming up, and if any of them take my fancy I shall post my intent of going and maybe garner some company.
For those coming to the drive-in, the gates open at 6 and the movie starts at 7.
For those coming to the drive-in, the gates open at 6 and the movie starts at 7. All welcome. The movie is Pirates Band of Misfits, and is on at the Galaxy Drive In http://galaxydrivein.com.au/ There is a cafe - I suspect coeliacs need not apply, but it's nice to see the good old Chiko Roll out there. :-) http://galaxydrivein.com.au/cafe
http://galaxydrivein.com.au/
http://galaxydrivein.com.au/
Tuesday, 10 April 2012
Last night we played some Magic and Forbidden Island in the lobby with various folks, and then ended off on a game...
Last night we played some Magic and Forbidden Island in the lobby with various folks, and then ended off on a game of 11 Nimmt.
A 12o'clock check out is so civilised...we got up, had a leisurely breakfast over another game of Magic, and then bid farewell to Pedanther and JS. We packed, and checked out, leaving our duplicate books for the hotel staff bookshelf, and the magic concierge ninja'd our stuff down to wait for our pickup.
And so now we are home after a convention that was truly magnificent.
The venue's helpfulness, oodles of bottled water readily and freely available, the general set up of the convention floor, everything accessible...and also the staff. Super venue!
The convention organisation worked very well, a dedicated bunch who were very in touch with the community. Thank you all so much, I had a terrific time.
A 12o'clock check out is so civilised...we got up, had a leisurely breakfast over another game of Magic, and then bid farewell to Pedanther and JS. We packed, and checked out, leaving our duplicate books for the hotel staff bookshelf, and the magic concierge ninja'd our stuff down to wait for our pickup.
And so now we are home after a convention that was truly magnificent.
The venue's helpfulness, oodles of bottled water readily and freely available, the general set up of the convention floor, everything accessible...and also the staff. Super venue!
The convention organisation worked very well, a dedicated bunch who were very in touch with the community. Thank you all so much, I had a terrific time.
There have been a lot of games for me throughout the convention...at some point we combined Last Night On Earth and...
There have been a lot of games for me throughout the convention...at some point we combined Last Night On Earth and Invasion From Mars, probably Saturday or Sunday night? Anyway, here came the Martians, and here came the Zombies. JoJo, the dancing bear from the circus, grief stricken by the death of two of the other characters raced out, grabbed the circus cannon, fired it at a closely packed bunch of the Martian invaders, and missed.
It's like they always say. It's not how well the dancing bear fires the circus cannon, it's that it fires the circus cannon at all.
Just before that, the Bearded Woman and the Sharpshooter got into a tizzy with each other, and while they were catfighting, the Martians zapped them.
In the end, the Martians won, their player seemed a bit put out, because he was having such a nice time zapping carnies and zombies left, right and centre.
Monday morning with Swancon we walked down to the Blood Bank where I gave plasma and platelets. Mel joined us in the lounge after the donate and we had a couple of games of Monty Python Fluxx before we all walked back.
Then we got into a game of Ticket to Ride Europe with Sha and Jen? I think her name is.
After a good game of that which Sha won very convincingly, we grabbed some snackage and ate it, and then tried out the Pathfinder system. Very nice little D&D derivative by way of the open gaming license of 3rd edition. Rather neat, and I'd like to try playing in a campaign with it. We killed some dire rats and 2 orcs, and captured the boss orc who reckons we might be able to rescue the lost dwarven miners....hmmm.
After that we...um...well, the closing ceremony was happening around about then, so Rob grabbed one of the sharks and briefly flew it around the committee, and after that we helped pack up a bit.
Then we wandered to The Good Earth and had an excellent dinner with JS and pedanther, after which we retired to the hotel lobby
It's like they always say. It's not how well the dancing bear fires the circus cannon, it's that it fires the circus cannon at all.
Just before that, the Bearded Woman and the Sharpshooter got into a tizzy with each other, and while they were catfighting, the Martians zapped them.
In the end, the Martians won, their player seemed a bit put out, because he was having such a nice time zapping carnies and zombies left, right and centre.
Monday morning with Swancon we walked down to the Blood Bank where I gave plasma and platelets. Mel joined us in the lounge after the donate and we had a couple of games of Monty Python Fluxx before we all walked back.
Then we got into a game of Ticket to Ride Europe with Sha and Jen? I think her name is.
After a good game of that which Sha won very convincingly, we grabbed some snackage and ate it, and then tried out the Pathfinder system. Very nice little D&D derivative by way of the open gaming license of 3rd edition. Rather neat, and I'd like to try playing in a campaign with it. We killed some dire rats and 2 orcs, and captured the boss orc who reckons we might be able to rescue the lost dwarven miners....hmmm.
After that we...um...well, the closing ceremony was happening around about then, so Rob grabbed one of the sharks and briefly flew it around the committee, and after that we helped pack up a bit.
Then we wandered to The Good Earth and had an excellent dinner with JS and pedanther, after which we retired to the hotel lobby
Swancon continued...Most of Sunday was taken up with the Magic tournament which was put on for Brandon Sanderson.
Swancon continued...Most of Sunday was taken up with the Magic tournament which was put on for Brandon Sanderson. I got knocked out after the first round, but came back for a rematch when someone had to leave the quarter finals. I was immediately matched up with Brandon for my temerity and very politely and helpfully slaughtered. Brandon was an absolute gentleman and very helpful to people who hadn't had much experience or were rusty, and was great to play with. Brandon won all his games and took away best and fairest, what a combo!
I played a few games with him while we were waiting and he was cool to talk with.
In the afternoon we played a magnificent game called Dread Fleet which is a visually spectacular tabletop with a beautiful map and big models.
The good guys side got sunk eventually, I ran into a rock which curtailed my activities very suddenly, as I forgot I had one more hull damage than I did.
I played a few games with him while we were waiting and he was cool to talk with.
In the afternoon we played a magnificent game called Dread Fleet which is a visually spectacular tabletop with a beautiful map and big models.
The good guys side got sunk eventually, I ran into a rock which curtailed my activities very suddenly, as I forgot I had one more hull damage than I did.
Sunday, 8 April 2012
Photos from the Swancon2012 "Doomcon" masquerade
Originally shared by Rob Masters
Photos from the Swancon2012 "Doomcon" masquerade
Photos from the Swancon2012 "Doomcon" masquerade
Well, this Swancon continues very well.
Well, this Swancon continues very well. The gaming room is in an excellent location, well lit and does not suffer from the through traffic of last year's convention. Or the poor lighting. The staff at the hotel have also been enthusiastic about the strange goings on. One thing that was REALLY good about themasquerade last night was they hadaperiod ofmingling in the light, presenting ourselves to thejudges andadmiring each other's costumes andtalking. The lastfew conventions the Masq has been dark and far too noisy to enjoy that sort of thing, so we've justdressedup and gamed. So we, the Delegates fromAtlantis wandered about with our flying sharks, saying "This will be OURS soon" ANyway the judges must have liked us, because they chose us as the best group prize! We tòok the Judges honorable mentionnominees down for coffee as we thought that they would win, we were very surprised. So Nancy as Rogue, Daniel as a truly magnificent Woverine and Supergirl and the Delegates fromAtlantisand attendant Sharkall enjoyed chips, Mocktails andIced Coffee inthe bar, while playing a cheerful game of The Sentence Game (AKA Eat Poop YouCat) Now I'm having brekky and getting psyched up fof the Magic Tournament.
Saturday, 7 April 2012
Play continues well and Rob's panel about interstellar space travel was very well attended.
Play continues well and Rob's panel about interstellar space travel was very well attended. Even though it was 11:00om. It was an excellent presentation too, with Rob and andrew and DC keeping us all in the know with spirited discussion. Ratfan X helped us with our army of flying sharks and we made final preparations with them today. Played a couple of games of Treehouse and a game of ttr europe this arvo and a leisurely walk this morning to get the helium for the robot sharks was welcome after a very full breakfast. I,m hoping to see some of Brandon,s goh speech, go to the Star Crystal's book launch and try halfling heist, but I don't think there's enough time for it all.
Friday, 6 April 2012
Swancon is still in full swing and I have had a good days worth of gaming...more sentence game and some ttr europe...
Swancon is still in full swing and I have had a good days worth of gaming...more sentence game and some ttr europe and a couple of games of Wits and Wagers. Rob then went off to his panel about science in sf. I taught some ladies Forbidden island, unfortunately we drowned in the first game but they enjoyed it so much we played it again. Both Poss and Mum came to visit and we had a bit of a respite in our room with tea and photos.
Well, the first morning of Swancon and after another bad night of sleep and headache, we worked out at the hotel gym...
Well, the first morning of Swancon and after another bad night of sleep and headache, we worked out at the hotel gym with some other fitness minded con members, it was very social. Yesterday we had a great deal of hilarity with The Sentence Game with 7 players, and also Dixitwith around that many folks. As people settled into their games the games room settled down and there wren't many loosepeople, so I joinedamodified game of Tales of the Arabian Nights, whiich as usual was lots of fun, especially with people who had not played itbefore. Breakfast is great and niicely GF. We werejust about to go to bed last night when Rob volunteered for a panel on Australian Space projects, which, with Sha passionately speaking and Matt and Rob also talking, was really interesting. Volunteer at the W.A Museum! Plus we have ameteoritebelt in WA so we get lots of debris! Then we headed to beddy byes.
Thursday, 5 April 2012
So Rob and I have been generously dropped off by my Mum at the Pan Pacific for Swancon.
So Rob and I have been generously dropped off by my Mum at the Pan Pacific for Swancon. Many people have not recognised Rob, I keep having to tell people that it is Rob. The fact that my hair looks like it has been dipped in highlighter pales in comparison. Our room on the cheap internet rate is nice enough...not one we would be doing a lot of gaming in, but that's okay. No cooking facilities but we didn't expect them,n andanoffer ofcheap parkingandcheap breakfast too, not thatweneed theparking, and itwasonly relatively cheap.
I need tosource some pointy ears, any about here I wonder?
All excited for the con.Lovely hotel too. That's the view from our window, and having people to take care of our luggage was a very welcome novelty.
Wednesday, 4 April 2012
This wasn't working when I last saw it on YouTube, but it may do now..
This wasn't working when I last saw it on YouTube, but it may do now..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8uI1Y8B6L28
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8uI1Y8B6L28
Tuesday, 3 April 2012
Hard as it is to imagine life after Swancon I'm planning a bit of an excursion to the Galaxy Drive-In on the 12th of...
Hard as it is to imagine life after Swancon I'm planning a bit of an excursion to the Galaxy Drive-In on the 12th of April 2012.
The Pirates Band of Misfits is on, the gate opens at 6.15 and the movie starts at 7.15. You may know the film better as The Pirates In An Adventure With Scientists. The animation is done by Aardman of Wallace and Gromit fame. All welcome to drive on up.
Details of the Galaxy Drive In are here - http://galaxydrivein.com.au/ and here http://galaxydrivein.com.au/coming-soon
I haven't been to the drive in since The Lost Boys came out!
http://galaxydrivein.com.au/
The Pirates Band of Misfits is on, the gate opens at 6.15 and the movie starts at 7.15. You may know the film better as The Pirates In An Adventure With Scientists. The animation is done by Aardman of Wallace and Gromit fame. All welcome to drive on up.
Details of the Galaxy Drive In are here - http://galaxydrivein.com.au/ and here http://galaxydrivein.com.au/coming-soon
I haven't been to the drive in since The Lost Boys came out!
http://galaxydrivein.com.au/
Entry for Swancon on Good Friday is a gold coin donation - come and see what all the fuss is about at the Pan...
Entry for Swancon on Good Friday is a gold coin donation - come and see what all the fuss is about at the Pan Pacific https://2012.swancon.com.au/
https://2012.swancon.com.au/
https://2012.swancon.com.au/
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