maethe

Luke and I will be arriving at ICC/Grand Masquerade at New Orleans around noon. Tentatively we plan on playing in the Forsaken game, Thu 2 PM - 7 PM, but we might pass. Nothing against the storyline, but neither of our characters has a very viable entry point, both Kurt and Samuel being local and territorial. Plus, in all honesty, I'm just not enthused about the game. It was speciously touted as being 30+ hours of "game," but - and this is admittedly subjective - soft roleplay is not game, and 5 hours of narrated play followed by 15 hours of soft rp during the off hours of the convention, no matter how prettily decorated, just isn't the way that I'd like to celebrate my enjoyment of LARPs and 18 years of club membership (wow), or how I'd like to spend my time in New Orleans.

There's always a chance I might play in one of the other venues. I'm interested in Geist, and I actually have characters in Requiem, Awakening and Lost (tho' each will have to be seriously updated). I even have a bit of nostalgia for the oWoD Vampire.

There are several panels scheduled that I'd like to attend, most hosted by CCP. The Werewolf retrospective is scheduled against the Forsaken game, so that's unfortunate. Also, the Wrecking Crew has a few tabletop games lined up, and I don't know anything about them, but I might look into it.

I'm mostly interested in the Announcement venue.

I'm also ochyen enthusiastic about New Orleans itself and sharing it with friends. I want to wander the shops and museums in the Quarter and the Arts District. And - oooooh - the food. Anyone have any interesting expeditions planned? Anyone want to touch base and catch up? Plus, for those NWers or others who haven't met Luke, he'll be there and you can judge his worthiness meet him.

Phone number or other contact info available upon request. I'm also on Skype, Facebook and Latitude.

Responding to Luke, but I figured it was worth adding as a separate post...

I like Joey's take on the setting of Werewolf: The Forsaken, as I would enjoy yours, Luke (and have in the past), and I wouldn't mind taking another run at a local game some time in the future myself. I'm more comfortable with working within the Camarilla straightjacket in Forsaken and I have a deeper level of trust with the local Forsaken players, so my staying power would be better than it has been in the past.

Lessee'. I'd run an overarching story with sub-plots, naturally. I'd start most games McGyver style, with a small vignettes taking no more than one-half hour, allowing the latecomers to have a second jump-on point. Then we'd break for "credits": Game announcements, administrata, handouts with results of downtimes that don't require scenes and with rumors, discoveries, ally/contact updates, etc.

I'd discuss routines with players, finding out what they do during the day, so I can pull these into the vignettes or the main plot. If a character regularly goes to the farmer's market, set that up. If the character goes to every rockabilly concert, set that up. Work with the player to create a menu of set pieces that are allowed into play.

I'd make more use of set dressing and props to get better immersion. I'd give more free +1 modifiers to actions acted out rather than described, even in combat (yeah, can of worms, but worth it, I think). I still have my eye on the werewolf masks, claws and whatnot on Amazon. Maybe get sheets of gauze to throw over people who are in the Hisil. Play an MP3 of a Tardis whoosh whenever the gauntlet is crossed nearby.

I'd limit the use of Pure and spirits as antagonists, instead focusing on unique elements to Atlanta (whether they be fresh or from outside the Forsaken setting, but in the World of Darkness). Pure - while offering an interesting moral conundrum on how to deal with them permanently - create too much frustration, as do spirits. They'd still be present, just as drawing essence from a territorial locus is there, but they'd be relegated to background for the most part.

I'd prob'ly clean house on the spirit world. We use a lot of conceptuals, far more than the books imply. While I'm a big advocate of "make your own game" and "it's a big world of darkness," I'd like to get to more animal-based spirits, at least as the primary population of the Hisil. I'd be hesitant to cut loose in the "Metaphors Gone Wild" Hisil that we currently play in. I like it, but Shamanistic concepts could be interesting to explore as a (temporary?) alternative.

Depending on resources, I'd prob'ly add some 24-7 game play, at least as an opt-in option. The most simple way would be to involve local game stores, clubs, etc. as "instances." Say, a clue leads you to the owner of Teahouse Comics. She hands you an envelope and then (pretend) sics her dog on you. Or you get the coordinates for a fetish and have to go on a geocaching run.

I might encourage bans that involve recording your shenanigans, so we all get to see the fun from phone-recordings.

I dunno'. Might be fun.

While Luke and I are visiting in Seattle this weekend, where should we go? We'll be at Spring Thaw events, but we'll also have some free time. We'll mostly be in the Downtown, Uptown and Cap Hill areas. I'd like to visit book stores, gaming stores and cafes, given their lack in Atlanta.

In Cap Hill, I plan on stopping by Half-Price Books and Gamma Ray Games.

Uptown, we're planning on the SciFi Museum (I've never been, but Luke has), and Downtown maybe Golden Age. Luke mentioned Gameworks, which hopefully is still Downtown.

Is Elliott Bay Books still around in Pioneer Square? The web seems confused on that issue.

UPDATE: The Pioneer Square location has been closed, but they plan to open at 1521 10th Avenue on 4/15, so fingers crossed!

Unfortunately, I don't think we'll have time for the U District, but I have fond memories of walking up and down the Ave visiting the used bookstores.

I'm pretty much ready to go. Everything's packed, charged and set except ablutionary material for tomorrow morning.

Other than my abeyance tasks, I only have one to-do left on my list for work. I'm trying to minimize my list for work because toiling away at my mom's house or the local B&N with my netbook is prob'ly not very conducive to productivity.

I can even turn down the fridge due to its current emptiness.

It doesn't look like I'll be making it to PDX this time, tho' I'll give it a shot next time (maybe this summer). It turns out that 3 weeks fills up pretty fast!

My travel books are PDF Hacks (O'Reilly), Deepsix (McDevitt), and Navigator (Baxter), plus 450+ books on my B&N Nook and a good half-dozen available via Audible on my iPod and netbook. Toss in Hulu and Netflix. I think I'll have enough to entertain myself even without MMOs.

I'll be in Tacoma from this Wednesday, 4/7 to 4/26. I'll be going to Spring Thaw in Seattle the weekend of 4/15 and the Camarilla's NWRE in Seatac the weekend of 4/22. wolfwalker, my beau Luke, will be joining me for Spring Thaw (his first bear run). I might go to Portland, but chances are that I won't due to the expense.

If you're willing to cart someone to a Cam game from Lakewood, I could prob'ly be talked into going. I only have a Forsaken character, but Cam events are a quick way to visit with lots of folks that I miss. Or if you're in the Lakewood area and you want to visit over coffee or food, let me know.

* Ding! Level 20 with my character, Red Justice (@Maethe), on Champions Online. Despite complaints I've read about the game, I'm not having any trouble finding level-appropriate content (quite the opposite, in fact; I keep overfilling my mission queue). It was bad a couple months ago, but I started back up last week and went from level 12 to 20 very quickly. If you play and want to team up, my characters are Red Justice (armored Chinese techknight) and Garmr (darkness-powered hellhound). Garmr is level 14.

* My favorite eps of Chuck are Buy More free. Such was the latest ep that I was even okay with the ongoing (and on and on and ongoing) non-love affair between the eponymous hero and the girl. I kinda' miss Superman and Lana Lang, tho'.

* Lost tonight!

* Werewolf this weekend. I'm not sure if we're starting our revised Mutants & Mastermind schedule this week, but if so there's that on Thursday. I run WFRP3 the Thursday after.

* Only 3 weeks until I go to Tacoma! I've registered for Spring Thaw and the Camarilla's NWRE. In between, I'm going to be in Tacoma (working actually, since I can telecommute). I might take some time to go to PDX and Powell's. If you want to meet up in Seattle, Tacoma, or Portland, let me know.

Yeah, I'm prob'ly the only person still watching this show, but nights are long and I don't sleep much.

I love Robert J. Sawyer's novels. Calculating God is one of my favorites. All his books are surprisingly quick, easy reads with big ideas, solid characters, and plenty of Canadian scenery.

I can tell you his novel Flashforward pretty much only shares its title with the television show. However, Sawyer has a Producer and Consultant credit, so - while different - I'd been hoping it wouldn't suck.

Well, it's a bit on the dull side, and it's only the 202nd show to star the FBI. It's insomnia-Hulu fare, and since it's late and I got Hulu...
( It's only spoilers if I'm right:Collapse )

Trying to update my phone, I turned it into a rock. So, until I get a new phone, your best chance of contacting me is with a rock (or email, or Facebook, or Skype, which I will leave on). ... which isn't too different from me with a working phone. So, I'm thinking Droid? Any thoughts?