Yeah, I know. I suck. I should have updated long ago. But I didn’t. Because I suck. So I’m going to try and make up for it with a crazy long post…
Continue reading “GamePrep and “Don’t Call It Writer’s Block””
Verge Adv2
Fallen out of the habit of updating here – can’t quite figure out why. Probably just general laziness. Anyway … we’re continuing to use Fantasy Grounds for our Traveller game until the Covid-19 overreaction BS dies down; I would be fine actually meeting up to play, but a couple of the players wanted to do the ‘better safe than sorry’ which I still think is overreaction.
Interesting Times Ahead
So this Friday, our Verge game is going to be using Fantasy Grounds instead of being face-to-face since one of the players’ wife doesn’t want him to venture to the office with this Covid-19 BS. So that’s going to be very interesting…
Since we’re using a new ruleset, I’m keeping gameprep simple: there will be a bar fight, and maybe some of an investigation leading into a revised version of Cupbearer, an Expanse RPG adventure from the Quickstart book.
I fully expect we’re not going to get a lot done due to technical issues, but I could be surprised!
No Game, Plus Dentist Crap
Down a couple of players tonight, so we decided to have a bye week. One of the players pulled an 18-hour work day yesterday and another really needed the night off to prep for his game tomorrow, so I was fine with punting for the day. Plus, I’ve been fighting what I’m about 98% certain isn’t Covid-19 this week, so …
Anyway, the day before yesterday, I went to the dentist to begin dealing with one of my FUBARed teeth. As expected, this is going to be a root canal and I got antibiotics for a week instead … and then, they sent me the treatment plan. Covering all four “quadrants” is going to cost me almost $8300. Ugh. I don’t have that kind of money right now.
Story of my life, I suppose.
Overdue GamePrep for 1×06
This week has been really weird. I’ve been busy at work, but not so busy that I couldn’t work on my game yet, for some reason, I just haven’t. Residual issues from last week, I suppose.
Chase Cards
During the previous session (1×05), we stumbled into a chase as two of the characters noted that they were being shadowed and, upon failing to shake their pursuers, instead opted to simply walk toward them. Said pursuers immediately turned and tried to escape, which led to the before-mentioned chase. At first, I wasn’t entirely sure what to do, but luckily, I remembered that I had the Chase Cards that Paizo put out for Pathfinder some years ago. It took a little bit of rejiggering since d20 mechanics don’t exactly translate to Mongoose Traveller 2nd Edition, but overall, it worked okay.
Essentially, you lay out a number of cards determining the expected length of the chase (typically 5) that are face-down which creates the “chase track.” You flip over the first card with chase participants (miniatures) on it; to progress to the next card, the participant must overcome the obstacle according to the card (although obviously, what’s on the cards are general guidelines, not hard-and-fast rules.) Since there were two distinct chases taking place at the same time, I had two tracks, and the guys they were pursuing begin one card ahead. It wasn’t perfect, but it worked out fairly well.
Unfortunately, those cards are also quite obviously geared for a fantasy setting which was not wholly appropriate for this game. This led me to start thinking about making my own chase cards for Traveller that fits more the setting. The below is what I’ve come up with so far, but I’m sort of working on the next batch now upon learning that there are even more cards with the Chase Cards 2: Hot Pursuit stuff…
Reflections on a Life
As I stated previously, my mom passed away on Monday and I’m currently here in Florida with the rest of the family in the aftermath of the ‘memorial’ service. My mom had already prepaid for the arrangements – which is a great idea and something I need to look into doing since I’m unmarried without children and, sadly, unlikely to have either – and she intentionally did not want a big ‘dog and pony show’ for a funeral – which is, again, something that we share; when I’m dead, I don’t give a crap what happens to my body since, you know, I’m dead and all. So we’re at Florida sister’s house with her, her husband, her three daughters, the other sister, her husband and their daughter, my mom’s two sisters, and the husband of of those two … and my mom’s boyfriend. Which made me realize that my mother had more game in the dating area than I do … which isn’t depressing at all.
Insert Witty Remark Here
So, my mom passed away last night. I’ve booked the flight to Florida – ugh. $700 – and will be leaving work early today so I can go home & pack (which, luckily, consists of throwing some stuff in a bag) before heading to the airport. I have an hour plus layover in Atlanta.
A lot of conflicting thoughts and emotions at the moment. I’m not as emotionally wrecked as I expected to be, which makes me wonder once again if there’s something wrong with me. It also served as a reminder that, if I dropped dead right now, there’s no significant other to care. Dealing with my body and all that would probably fall to one of my sisters. My mom apparently pre-arranged all of the funeral stuff so none of her kids have to deal with it … which is honestly something that I need to do since I have no SO or kids.
Huzzah.
Life Kicks Back…
What a shitty way to start the week. One of my sisters called me this a.m. – evidently, my mom is in the hospital and may have suffered a stroke. We don’t know yet what the prognosis is yet, but my mom is 74 so … I’m not entirely hopeful.
Game Prep: The Verge, 1×05
So one of the players – Anya’s – is out tomorrow due to some familial stuff she can’t get out of. Her husband is supposed to be present and, as far as I can tell, everyone else is going to be there as well, so it’s game-on.