Staying Consistent

It's funny how incosistent I've been about posting to this blog, but yet I somehow keep finding my way back to the temple from time to time. I've also been thinking about how crazy and how much the world has changed since my last post and how much the political landscape has impacted (for better or worse) every aspect of my life. Instead of concerning myself with advancing my career and working towards clinical licensure, I now have to be mindful that there are fascist thugs out there hurting people and engaging in politically-sanctioned terrorism. I have to remind myself that nothing stays shitty forever and that the pendulum will swing back someday. Will that someday occur in my lifetime, who knows? Until then, ignorance, fear and hatred are the order of the day. And I really hate to say this, but I feel that things are going to get much, much worse before they get better. For myself, I will try, fates permitting, to stay as positive as I can, continue to disengage from all media outlets, social and news (as it is all either extreme right or left and all negative and triggering), and read more books. More importantly, I will endeavor to journal more, and attempt to cultivate more real-world associations and play more games! With this thought in mind, I need to find other like-minded people who want to play OSR style rpgs like Old School Essentials, B/X D&D, Dragon Slayer or similar games and start rolling some dice again! 

Return to the Temple

The Perambulators!

Wow, it's been quite some time since I last visited the temple! Many things have happened in my life since I last visited the dusty chambers of this long forgotten fane.

I have literally undergone changes in both body and mind. In the time I've been away I have realized my truth as a transgender person (having transitioned, MtF), returned to school to pursue my masters degree (almost done) in clinical mental health counseling, and have become a more actualized individual and over all happier person despite some of the physical health problems I faced during Covid-19 (possibly more on that in another blog). 

The world has obviously changed- with the outbreak of various maladies such as Covid-19 and Monkey Pox plaguing humanity, not to mention the insanity going on in Europe with the Russian Federation trying to wipe out or subjugate the brave Ukrainian people. My thoughts go out to the Ukraine in the hopes that Russians cease their aggression. 

On the home front, I have started running a 5e game again and I have really enjoyed it for the most part. However, the more I run 5e, the more I realize that I miss the simplicity of B/X games. I love the players I have in my game now, I couldn't ask for better players, but I keep thinking that I would like to make the switch to Old School Essentials (OSE) at some point in the future. D&D 5e is a good system, but like many systems that have come before it, it is starting to experience "rules bloat". There are so many adventures and rules supplements for the game now that it's hard to keep up with everything being published. 

Anyway, I feel that I'm starting to ramble and it's way past my bedtime so I'll sign off for now.

Live Deliciously!

Jonelle 

Why I Don't Care for Dungeons and Dragons (5e) Inspiration System

I've come to realize that while I enjoy the new edition of Dungeons and Dragons (5e), I'm feeling less than inspired by its new inspiration system. The inspiration system is meant to encourage creative role-playing by having a player utilize a series of predetermined backgrounds, flaws, traits, and bonds on his or her character sheet. The GM will then determine whether or not a player has sufficiently played to his/her character's strengths and/or weaknesses and award them an "Inspiration Point".

The player can then use this inspiration point to make any one roll with "Advantage". The player rolls 2 d20 and takes the better of the two rolls. The problem I have with the system is that it's very subjective, and it's left to individual DMs to decide when a player has earned inspiration... and that fact leaves me with a bad taste for this rule.

I have played in two Fifth-Edition D&D games so far and it seems (to me) that while not necessarily intentional, game-masters have a tendency to play favorites. What I mean is that some players receive boons rather consistently, while others do not. If you're not a very verbose player (like myself), you end up watching as other players who are very vocal and animated get inspiration point after inspiration point.

I feel that I have contributed to the various games I have participated in very meaningful and substantial ways; I consistently use my skills to aid the party, and role play my character's background and flaws when and where I feel that they are appropriate. However, it would seem that my efforts and contributions are not valued (or just overlooked) by the game-masters I have sat across from. I realize that GMs are people too, and are far from perfect- they have many tasks to manage during the game, and awarding inspiration points is probably not something they give much consideration to.

This doesn't change the fact not receiving inspiration points when one feels that they have contributed to the game session really sucks. I feel that there needs to be a more codified system for the awarding of inspiration points, but just what that would look like is still something that needs work.

Burning Sands

I know I said that I didn't want to play in anyone else's game after the adventure I'm currently participating in ends, but I've been invited to play in a Dark Sun campaign... and I absolutely love that game world!  Gamemastering/playing in a Dark Sun game was one of my most cherished memories growing up in the hobby. Now that I've been asked to play in an ongoing campaign set in the burning sands of Athas, I am thrilled to have a chance to travel back to that grim place and do battle with the unspeakable horrors that inhabit the dusty wastes, and fight against the tyranny of the despotic sorcerer kings. However, the one question that currently vexes me is, "what kind of character shall I play?"

Game Mastering vs. Playing

                              

I've recently come to realize that I enjoy running games much more than being a player in someone else's game. I was playing in a friend's game and found myself starting to lapse into fits of sleepiness as I waited for my fellow players to conduct their turns. I realize that it's hard for me to keep my attention on the game unless I'm fully engaged at all times -that's why I like being a Game Master. I really do enjoy my friend's game but I frequently find myself asking how I would run a specific encounter, adjudicate a specific rule, or handle some situation that comes up during play, as opposed to paying attention to what my character should be doing during his turn.

I love crafting my own worlds, weaving stories for players to experience, and controlling all aspects of the game instead of controlling a lone character. I find the experience and dynamics of GM-ing much more rewarding (sometimes frustrating), than being a player. I've decided that once my tenure in my friend's game is at an end (character dies), I have no further plans to play in anyone else's game (after a short hiatus wherein I focus on being a better game-master), and concentrate solely on being a game-master.

Game Run... Pretty Good

So, I managed to run a couple of short sessions of Lost Mine of Phandelver for our band of adventurers, and I like to think that (hope), everyone involved had a good time. The party managed to survive a goblin ambush (although two characters almost died), and were able to track the vermin back to their hideout. Once there, the PCs fought more gobbos and their bugbear leader. In the end, the heroes managed to win the day and even rescued a fellow adventurer. There were a few more encounters in and around the area known as the town of Phandelver.

I won't bore the reader with a detailed accounting of what transpired for the remainder of our gaming sessions (in total, 3 sessions), other than fun was had by all and no characters died. D&D 5e is fun to gamemaster, has the feel of old school gaming, and I definitely plan on running a campaign of my own when I feel the time is right.

D&D 5e

As per the usual, it's been a really long time since I've posted anything here, but then again I haven't really felt the need to. The Pathfinder game I ran briefly, The Dragon's Demand imploded when we ran into time commitments and personality conflicts. Oh well, sometimes things don't work out quite as you envision them to, and games come to a screeching halt!   -it's the nature of the gaming beast. I'll try to get another Pathfinder game going sometime in the future.

For the time being though, I've been playing in my friend David's D&D next game and it has been pretty fun. Now that David's game is coming to an end, I've been tasked with running the D&D 5e Starter Set adventure, Lost Mine of Phandelver and I must say that I'm really excited to be back behind the DM's screen for the first time in quite a while.

A New Game Group

It's been quite a long time since I've updated this thing, but I finally have a reason to-  I have a new game group to ring in the new year!  I've been looking for quality players for a new Pathfinder game I've been wanting to run, The Dragon's Demand, and I've finally found them!

It's been a while since I've done any gaming and I'm starting to go through withdrawal if I don't get back to the gaming table!  I'm hoping that this new campaign will be a fun, action-packed, and productive one.

Since my last post here, I've had mostly positive gaming experiences, but there have been a few notable exceptions that have not gone as well as I would have liked, and it's my hope that I can avoid some of the problems of the past.

It is said that there is no substitute for the wisdom that experience brings, and I do feel a bit wiser and confident to deal with the challenges that starting a new game will entails, and I'm ready to deal with the Dragon's Demand!

Blog... Long Time No See

I haven't been here in some time, but I've been meaning to change that. I think that I know what this blog will finally be about (details forthcoming!).

I'll Find My Footing

A friend of mine and I were discussing the post I had made regarding finding the focus of this blog, and some iteresting observations were made. My friend said that my blog was most likely going to suck for a while while I get my sea legs and figure out what I really want to blog about. He also said that my situation is normal for most blogs- most blogs tend to be rather blase' at the onset and they either build up steam, find their focus and become successful, or they go nowhere and crash.

So, finding this blog's focus may take some time (a lot of time), but as my friend said, "keep on writing and the focus of your blog will eventually reveal itself to you".  So I will take his advice and keep on writing about whatever is on my mind, or whatever is going on in my gaming realm at that time. I just hope that I can find enough stuff to write about.

More Game Table Nonsense

Well, I'm almost finished with the construction of my game table. My buddy from work came over last night and brought the re-cut legs with him. With screwdriver in hand, we got to work putting the legs back on the table.
We flipped the table over and surveyed the results: the table works! there's still a little bit of wobble, but nothing that would be too distracting from using it as a game table.

Being the perfectionist that I am, I'm still going to add some additional support braces to the table legs, and maybe some vinyl edging  to the table top to help round out the project. I'll be taking some photos to include with post, and will add them at a later date.

Here's a shot of Drew's Game on the new table:

All Hail the Golden Fisters!

I plan on having a friend of mine run his Swords & Wizardry game over the weekend, and we'll run the table through its paces with his game group and see how it holds up to the rigors of a riotous game group, spilled drinks and pizza stains- it should be good fun nonetheless!

Addendum: With the addition of the support bracers for the legs, the table held up quite nicely against the game group and everyone had a great time.  I guess the table works!  - Now to start running some games of my own!

Focus Up!

So, I'm still stuck with what I'd like to write about on my little blog here, and I keep wracking my brain for any ideas. I was reading on someone else's blog that in order to have a successful blog (or at least one that gets read or followed), one needs to have a focus. The jist of the blog was something along the lines of;  find something about your chosen hobby, profession, or current subject of your blog and focus on one particular aspect and write about that. Conversely, your focus can go the opposite route and attempt to encompass many aspects of the subject you're blogging about.

As for myself, I'm just having difficulty finding anything interesting to write about, but I definitely think I'm going to go with trying to narrow my focus to one particular aspect of my gaming hobby. I guess I need to think about what exactly I should focus on in my roleplaying endeavours (specifically the Pathfinder RPG), but what the heck should blog about when it comes to my favorite game?   I know that I'm NOT going to write about my game group's gaming sessions (reading about other people's game sessions is akin to listening to someone talk about their character and the cool things that character did in game-  it might be fun for the player to regale you with stories about his or her character's exploits, but it gets boring fast for everyone listening to the aforementioned stories!).

I also know that I'm not going to try and write about current trends in the gaming industry (as I have neither the techinical or professional expertise/experience to expound upon this issue), and I'll try to write about things I actually have experience with. So, what do I have experience with? (in gaming terms that is):

• I know that I've been playing some iteration of D&D and other role playing games for at least 20+ years.
• I love gamemastering/ playing the Pathfinder RPG.
• I know that I no longer have the time or inclination to be involved in a long running (meaning weekly) game.
• Playing in Pathfinder Society Senarios, or running "One-Shot" games really appeals to me (and that will become the focus of my gaming habits in the future).
• I love creating supplimental materials (i.e., maps, handouts, painted backdrops/minis, etc.) for my game sessions.

I think I'll use this short list and brainstorm a focus for my blog (it may take me a little while), but I'll find my focus yet!  I'll keep you posted.

Game Table II

The progress on the game table is going well. My friend from work came over this weekend with his woodworking tools and we got to work on constructing the table. I'll have to admit that even though I'm not much of a craftsman, I enjoyed working with the wood- measuring, cutting, sanding and fitting all the pieces together gave me a sense of satisfaction of knowing that I could do such a thing...and  a sense of accomplishment that I wouldn't have had if I had just purchased the table from a retailer.

Being that I constructed the table from scratch and never having created one before, there were bound to be some mistakes and some rough edges so to speak. My wife says that the table rests a little bit high for her tastes, and that it has a little bit of a wobble- but other than that, she thinks the table is great. So I guess my current objective for the game table is to shorten it a smidge, and add some additional support bracers for the legs to help eliminate some of the wobble.

I'll see if I can elist my friend's aid again, and hopefully by the end of the month I'll have a table worthy of gaming.

Game Table

I wasn't sure what I wanted to write about in my first blog, but I figured I should write about what my current gaming situation is- and for the foreseeable future, it's pretty much nonexistent. Until recently, I had a decently sized gaming table (4'x8') in my basement game room. The game table as nice as it was, was not mine and has since returned to its rightful owner (with many thanks to its owner for its use). However, now I'm left with no game table and no means to buy another.

Taxes really killed me this year and any money I would have used to buy a decent table is now going to pay taxes :( . My current plan of action is to make a makeshift table out of some cheap plywood sheeting and pre cut 2x4 planks. A friend of mine is going to assist me in its construction (as I have next to no skill in woodworking, but I guess I'll learn as I go). Creating a table in this fashion will be a little more cost effective, educational, and provide a gaming surface that is preferable to playing on the floor.

Another advantage to creating my own table as opposed buying a prefab table is that I can have a table sized to my specs- I want my table to measure 4'x6' as opposed to 4'x8'. Having a large table was nice, but I noticed that when I was running a game, it felt like I was a little too far away from my players.

I was constantly having to get up and move over to the center of the table to place/draw maps, move minis, condition markers, etc. Having a little smaller table will make things feel a bit more intimate and allow me to position the aforementioned gaming articles without having to constantly get up and get in the players' way.
I'll most likely be posting some pictures of the table when it's complete.

More Progress

slowly but surely I'm making some headway here. The Temple of Ahkliat will be my blog for my favorite game, Pathfinder! Hopefully, I'll be able to join the RPG Bloggers Network at some point.

Under Construction

I'm working on learning how to make this thing work. Goodness is forthcoming