My dice bag is awesome. I made it myself, and it has served me rather well for several years and shows no sign of stopping. My previous bag, made by an old friend, was great, but ultimately became too small. I had to expand.
When my dice collection started to grow past a couple of basic polyhedral sets to something that has developed into ungodly ("Well, I've got 15 d10, may as well even it out for each size, that would be good for my odds...", "Oh, that's so pretty! I need it!", "Shit, now my counts are uneven, time to sort that out again..." Wash. Rinse. Repeat.) I knew that I must take matters into my own hands.
And what better way to store dice, than in a giant die? I had seen die-shaped dice bags before online, and beyond knowing that such a thing existed, I didn't use any other reference than an actual d10 (I like their shape best out of all the polyhedrals).
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
Thursday, September 13, 2012
Game Reflections: Deadlands
We had a spectacular "season finale" to Deadlands last night. I'll leave the summarising to M'Colleague, as he has been doing a spectacular job of it thus far, and I would hate to steal his thunder.
But yes, I do tend to think of some games in terms of TV show series. I've been lucky in that a lot of the GMs (DMs, STs, whatever the given system calls them) with whom I play have a keen knack for knowing when to call a session for optimal cliff-hanger suspense, how to build that suspense in the first place, and how to craft a damn fine story world in which to play. This Deadlands campaign has been no different.
M'Colleague (some of you know him as S.P. although he goes by many names) and I have reflected that this game and our player/character group is very Whedon-esque, to its great credit. We've got a Priest with a Past, a Wealthy Boy Journalist, a Fallen Southern Belle, a Ne'er-Do-Well Drifter, a Mountain Boy with Too Many Guns (no such thing), and a Rough Lady Butcher (that's a woman who is a butcher, not Jack the Ripper). We have a great group dynamic, and are able to banter with ease.
Or had. Father Seward, Rufina the butcher, and Jake the drifter died spectacularly last night while we attempted, and succeeded, at stopping the apocalypse. I'm sure it won't be the last time, but it does give one a certain sense of accomplishment going into the tail end of a hellacious work week. Though the players themselves aren't leaving the game for good, I wonder how we will recover when half our party is suddenly replaced with a few well placed newcomers.
I'm not normally one to get terribly attached to characters that aren't my own (and even then only so much), but I have found myself reflecting on our group's loss throughout the day today. It occurred to me that this hit me just as hard as when a favourite character snuffs it in a TV show I've become invested in. You know the feeling (Spoilers ahead): Charlie on LOST, Wash at the end of Serenity, Ianto in Torchwood. Which is to say, not very hard hitting in the grand scheme of things, but that's emotionally-invested fandom for you.
My character, Ruby "Not Scarlet O'Hara" O'Flahertie, lost both a father figure and a would-be lover in a matter of minutes, without actually saying goodbye. Not to mention vampire thing that was her brother, long thought to be dead. As a properly helpless woman of her time and upbringing, to have lost two protectors is a devastating blow. Them's the breaks in the Victorian apocalypse, of course. Though her heart is thrice broken, I'm very pleased at the new level of characterisation that this will allow me to bring to the table. I thrive on this sort of method acting crap.
And I'm a little glad that our illustrious GM has pretty much exhausted any remaining family dear Ruby could have had left. Of course, if we're headed where I think we are next, she's about to confront her estranged philandering husband.
Oh, won't that be a laugh?
But yes, I do tend to think of some games in terms of TV show series. I've been lucky in that a lot of the GMs (DMs, STs, whatever the given system calls them) with whom I play have a keen knack for knowing when to call a session for optimal cliff-hanger suspense, how to build that suspense in the first place, and how to craft a damn fine story world in which to play. This Deadlands campaign has been no different.
M'Colleague (some of you know him as S.P. although he goes by many names) and I have reflected that this game and our player/character group is very Whedon-esque, to its great credit. We've got a Priest with a Past, a Wealthy Boy Journalist, a Fallen Southern Belle, a Ne'er-Do-Well Drifter, a Mountain Boy with Too Many Guns (no such thing), and a Rough Lady Butcher (that's a woman who is a butcher, not Jack the Ripper). We have a great group dynamic, and are able to banter with ease.
Or had. Father Seward, Rufina the butcher, and Jake the drifter died spectacularly last night while we attempted, and succeeded, at stopping the apocalypse. I'm sure it won't be the last time, but it does give one a certain sense of accomplishment going into the tail end of a hellacious work week. Though the players themselves aren't leaving the game for good, I wonder how we will recover when half our party is suddenly replaced with a few well placed newcomers.
I'm not normally one to get terribly attached to characters that aren't my own (and even then only so much), but I have found myself reflecting on our group's loss throughout the day today. It occurred to me that this hit me just as hard as when a favourite character snuffs it in a TV show I've become invested in. You know the feeling (Spoilers ahead): Charlie on LOST, Wash at the end of Serenity, Ianto in Torchwood. Which is to say, not very hard hitting in the grand scheme of things, but that's emotionally-invested fandom for you.
My character, Ruby "Not Scarlet O'Hara" O'Flahertie, lost both a father figure and a would-be lover in a matter of minutes, without actually saying goodbye. Not to mention vampire thing that was her brother, long thought to be dead. As a properly helpless woman of her time and upbringing, to have lost two protectors is a devastating blow. Them's the breaks in the Victorian apocalypse, of course. Though her heart is thrice broken, I'm very pleased at the new level of characterisation that this will allow me to bring to the table. I thrive on this sort of method acting crap.
And I'm a little glad that our illustrious GM has pretty much exhausted any remaining family dear Ruby could have had left. Of course, if we're headed where I think we are next, she's about to confront her estranged philandering husband.
Oh, won't that be a laugh?
Sunday, September 9, 2012
An Introduction
Hello, welcome to my blog. I'm very excited about it. You can be, too, if you want.
I plan to write about a lot of things. Nerdy things. Nerdy, geeky, fan-girly, crafty things. I'm generally a bit scattered in my day-to-day existence, and that's likely to be the general tone here. I'd like to use this space not only to selfishly foist my thoughts and creations upon the world, but also to keep my writing skills sharp.
I dabble in a decent number of nerdly pursuits, although my main squeeze is role-playing (tabletop primarily, although I love a good LARP). I've been playing since early high school, so about 10 years. I also partake in video games, comics, various crafts, writing, sci-fi/fantasy media, and so forth. A geek of all trades.
I'm frequently at the sewing machine or seen with crochet hooks in hand, crafting a decent portion of my daily wardrobe, as well as Halloween/LARP costumes as far back as I can remember, and various things about the house.
Presently, I'm involved in two long-running tabletop campaigns, as well as a handful of others that are either infrequent or just getting started. I cut my teeth in an Old World Of Darkness Mage campaign (wherein I played a vampire?) and have since branched out to systems ranging from Unknown Armies to Deadlands to D&D. I've not yet run a game, but that's likely to change in the not too distant future.
On the crafting front, we've got Halloween fast approaching, after which I'll be taking on the epic task of making my own wedding dress. Intimidating, but there's quite a lot of time before The Big Day, so I'm not too concerned.
So there you have it, for now. There will be lots of pretty pictures, maybe some recipes, some fan-girl flailing, et cetera. Be on the look out for unconventional/nerd wedding tips and tricks, too.
Do stick around?
I plan to write about a lot of things. Nerdy things. Nerdy, geeky, fan-girly, crafty things. I'm generally a bit scattered in my day-to-day existence, and that's likely to be the general tone here. I'd like to use this space not only to selfishly foist my thoughts and creations upon the world, but also to keep my writing skills sharp.
I dabble in a decent number of nerdly pursuits, although my main squeeze is role-playing (tabletop primarily, although I love a good LARP). I've been playing since early high school, so about 10 years. I also partake in video games, comics, various crafts, writing, sci-fi/fantasy media, and so forth. A geek of all trades.
I'm frequently at the sewing machine or seen with crochet hooks in hand, crafting a decent portion of my daily wardrobe, as well as Halloween/LARP costumes as far back as I can remember, and various things about the house.
Presently, I'm involved in two long-running tabletop campaigns, as well as a handful of others that are either infrequent or just getting started. I cut my teeth in an Old World Of Darkness Mage campaign (wherein I played a vampire?) and have since branched out to systems ranging from Unknown Armies to Deadlands to D&D. I've not yet run a game, but that's likely to change in the not too distant future.
On the crafting front, we've got Halloween fast approaching, after which I'll be taking on the epic task of making my own wedding dress. Intimidating, but there's quite a lot of time before The Big Day, so I'm not too concerned.
So there you have it, for now. There will be lots of pretty pictures, maybe some recipes, some fan-girl flailing, et cetera. Be on the look out for unconventional/nerd wedding tips and tricks, too.
Do stick around?
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