So G+ is a gonna. Which is a shame, I have become quite comfortable in G+ even with most of its idiosyncrasies. The worst part now is to work out where to go next.
Presently that would appear to be MeWe - mewe.com/i/kevin.flynn4
Not sure if that will be the place to go for gaming, but it has a few people moving there already so lets see if we can't generate momentum.
Playing lots of rpg's presently. Two weekly games: D&D5e and a Savage Worlds Weird Wars Rome. And three bi-weekly games: Pathfinder and 2x AME (Middle Earth D&D5e), one where I GM and another where I play.
I really like the Middle Earth 5e games, the groups are trying to keep within the ME canon to a degree but the occassional DnD event will slip in now and then. Its a comfortable environment to play with and the AME classes are quite well balanced.
I am also very much enjoying the SW WW Rome game (GMing). The characters were transported from a Rippers game at 90 xp, spent 6 months acclimatizing to Rome and have now been sent off to discover what is going it. I have a massive story line planned out and they will need all that xp to survive. Blending in SW characters with roman history has been a lot of fun.
Haven't done a lot of work with my projects however - Fallen Cities or Sarmarkand. Need to get back to them before I forget where I was up to.
Monday 8 October 2018
Monday 28 May 2018
OSR and COWS in roleplaying.
I must be getting old, or my brain injury is playing up. I am getting a little tired of the OSR movement (Old School Revival) and of Cows in Runequest, and they are two different issues but with a vague connection (a not-me one). Which is not to say either of them are wrong, except that I am always right! Its just that roleplaying is so much more these days and we should embrace all of it.
Why do I have a problem with the OSR. Because they seem to have problems getting out of the past and at least trying something new. Yes dnd has a lot of nostalgic value, and yes I find it strikingly easy to slip back into playing dnd (especially 5th edition I might add, which is probably more old school than you would believe), and yes it is a nice comfort zone game that is easy to teach. I started playing dnd in 75 and I even have an original whitebox set, so I have been through all the incarnations of the game. But for god sake the world has progressed and new games with stunningly brilliant ideas have come out (like RQ), and can we move on a bit, at least acknowledge them and the 21st century.
And Cows (the animals, beef, horns etc), I am so sick of hearing about cow herders and clans and tribes and homesteads in RQ. Who are these people who play at this level? I'm sorry but most of the pre-Rune level stuff in RQ is simply practise for when I turn uber! I want to go on HeroQuests - which strangely enough is the one thing the game has NEVER clearly defined and developed 'official' mechanics for (apart from the runes themselves to some degree, but that seems to have been solved by the coming latest edition).
I want to be a hero at the side of the dudes who defeat the Evil Empire (yes Lunars have gone to the Darkside), I want to be on the top deck of the Cradle, I want to look Gorn Orta in the eye and haggle!... there is no room for cows in my RQ! And yet whole volumes exists to support this level of play. (Disclaimer: there is nothing wrong with this, its just not me, and it is ALL about me!)
And everyone I played with since 1978-9 has had the same view as me, we all want to be Rune levels and stomp Lunar scum (apart from a few recalcitrants). Did I misread the implications of the original books, where the tribes of Prax not the oppressed ones, were the Orlanthi not oppressed, were Ducks not oppressed!!! And who oppressed them all! And who were the Heroes of both history and recent times, I don't recall Lunars being in that group, in fact the opposite. I suspect there has been some historical re-writing going on, apologists for the Red Moon have infiltrated our libraries.
And Sartar itself? My friends and I seem to have made another mistake there... we NEVER (well hardly ever) played in that area of the world, we played in PRAX! Wasn't that the true homeland of the first two books? Didn't everybody head east to Prax and Pavis? If you were not a beast rider were you not a rebel orlanthi hiding out in Pavis and the Big Rubble. Where did you have to be to play The Cradle, surely one of the greatest adventures ever written.
There are no cows on the Cradle. Pigs, yes, but that pig was BIG, and tough, a Rune level pig!
The world is full of people who are not me.
And NEW games systems that excite me just as much as DND and RQ did when I first encountered them... such as Apocalypse World and its many hacks.
Thats all, move along, ranting over...
Why do I have a problem with the OSR. Because they seem to have problems getting out of the past and at least trying something new. Yes dnd has a lot of nostalgic value, and yes I find it strikingly easy to slip back into playing dnd (especially 5th edition I might add, which is probably more old school than you would believe), and yes it is a nice comfort zone game that is easy to teach. I started playing dnd in 75 and I even have an original whitebox set, so I have been through all the incarnations of the game. But for god sake the world has progressed and new games with stunningly brilliant ideas have come out (like RQ), and can we move on a bit, at least acknowledge them and the 21st century.
And Cows (the animals, beef, horns etc), I am so sick of hearing about cow herders and clans and tribes and homesteads in RQ. Who are these people who play at this level? I'm sorry but most of the pre-Rune level stuff in RQ is simply practise for when I turn uber! I want to go on HeroQuests - which strangely enough is the one thing the game has NEVER clearly defined and developed 'official' mechanics for (apart from the runes themselves to some degree, but that seems to have been solved by the coming latest edition).
I want to be a hero at the side of the dudes who defeat the Evil Empire (yes Lunars have gone to the Darkside), I want to be on the top deck of the Cradle, I want to look Gorn Orta in the eye and haggle!... there is no room for cows in my RQ! And yet whole volumes exists to support this level of play. (Disclaimer: there is nothing wrong with this, its just not me, and it is ALL about me!)
And everyone I played with since 1978-9 has had the same view as me, we all want to be Rune levels and stomp Lunar scum (apart from a few recalcitrants). Did I misread the implications of the original books, where the tribes of Prax not the oppressed ones, were the Orlanthi not oppressed, were Ducks not oppressed!!! And who oppressed them all! And who were the Heroes of both history and recent times, I don't recall Lunars being in that group, in fact the opposite. I suspect there has been some historical re-writing going on, apologists for the Red Moon have infiltrated our libraries.
And Sartar itself? My friends and I seem to have made another mistake there... we NEVER (well hardly ever) played in that area of the world, we played in PRAX! Wasn't that the true homeland of the first two books? Didn't everybody head east to Prax and Pavis? If you were not a beast rider were you not a rebel orlanthi hiding out in Pavis and the Big Rubble. Where did you have to be to play The Cradle, surely one of the greatest adventures ever written.
There are no cows on the Cradle. Pigs, yes, but that pig was BIG, and tough, a Rune level pig!
The world is full of people who are not me.
And NEW games systems that excite me just as much as DND and RQ did when I first encountered them... such as Apocalypse World and its many hacks.
Thats all, move along, ranting over...
Tuesday 20 March 2018
A Little too close for comfort...
Brain Aneurysms.
This is where a blood vessel in your brain develops a leak and blood pours into the brain, which is not good for you. Brains only like blood in a very controlled feed, leaks from broken plumbing are very bad for you. My father died from an aneurysm, and possibly they are hereditary on the male line of my family.
Mine burst on the 28th Jan. I felt a little funny, like there was a bubble in my head initially, then it started to hurt. My partner is a very sound sleeper and she was on the lounge doing that when my attack started. I managed to get off 3 cries for help, each more desperate before collapsing, and fortunately she heard the last. She acted perfectly, immediate ambulance call and inspection to make sure I could breath. The ambulance arrived in less than 5 minutes. Time with aneurysms, like with heart attacks, is of the essence.
So I awoke in an ICU bed at the locale hospital with and new collection of staples forming a lovely half circle in my skull, but I was alive, which is a very good result. Better, I was mostly lucid and all my body parts were mostly doing what I asked of them, so apparently I had not suffered any permanent brain damage. I was amazingly lucky.
To cut a long story short, I was in hospital and then in a Brain Rehabilitation Unit for a total of 7 weeks while they tried to ensure my recovery, and if I had suffered any lingering damage. During that period they were using quite a few strong drugs, one of which, vancomycin, had an unexpected side effect that caused my brain to start overheating, getting over 40.3 degrees at one point. This is not a good thing.
Despite all that I have recovered, and today I was discharged, certified healthy, provisionally. I have a new sensitivity to sound, and I get tired a little quickly, but all in all these things will fade as I get some exercise and time under my belt. It is not an experience I would recommend, long stays in hospital are extremely boring, and you tend to suffer sleep deprivation in public wards.
I cannot express my appreciation to the staff of the two hospitals who looked after me enough, they were wonderful. The nurses were exceptional. The same goes to my friends who rallied around to support me and my partner during a very trying time, they too were also amazing. And needless to say my love to my partner who saved my life and has been with me all the time.
I am home now. I have been lying in my own bed again, which is glorious. I have had a slice of vegemite toast, which is ridiculously fantastic (its the small things you miss), and I am absurdly happy.
So if some of you have been wondering where I have been for 7 weeks, that's the story. I am eager to get back into my regular rpg sessions, anything to stimulate my brain. Things are generally pretty good.
Kevin Flynn
This is where a blood vessel in your brain develops a leak and blood pours into the brain, which is not good for you. Brains only like blood in a very controlled feed, leaks from broken plumbing are very bad for you. My father died from an aneurysm, and possibly they are hereditary on the male line of my family.
Mine burst on the 28th Jan. I felt a little funny, like there was a bubble in my head initially, then it started to hurt. My partner is a very sound sleeper and she was on the lounge doing that when my attack started. I managed to get off 3 cries for help, each more desperate before collapsing, and fortunately she heard the last. She acted perfectly, immediate ambulance call and inspection to make sure I could breath. The ambulance arrived in less than 5 minutes. Time with aneurysms, like with heart attacks, is of the essence.
So I awoke in an ICU bed at the locale hospital with and new collection of staples forming a lovely half circle in my skull, but I was alive, which is a very good result. Better, I was mostly lucid and all my body parts were mostly doing what I asked of them, so apparently I had not suffered any permanent brain damage. I was amazingly lucky.
To cut a long story short, I was in hospital and then in a Brain Rehabilitation Unit for a total of 7 weeks while they tried to ensure my recovery, and if I had suffered any lingering damage. During that period they were using quite a few strong drugs, one of which, vancomycin, had an unexpected side effect that caused my brain to start overheating, getting over 40.3 degrees at one point. This is not a good thing.
Despite all that I have recovered, and today I was discharged, certified healthy, provisionally. I have a new sensitivity to sound, and I get tired a little quickly, but all in all these things will fade as I get some exercise and time under my belt. It is not an experience I would recommend, long stays in hospital are extremely boring, and you tend to suffer sleep deprivation in public wards.
I cannot express my appreciation to the staff of the two hospitals who looked after me enough, they were wonderful. The nurses were exceptional. The same goes to my friends who rallied around to support me and my partner during a very trying time, they too were also amazing. And needless to say my love to my partner who saved my life and has been with me all the time.
I am home now. I have been lying in my own bed again, which is glorious. I have had a slice of vegemite toast, which is ridiculously fantastic (its the small things you miss), and I am absurdly happy.
So if some of you have been wondering where I have been for 7 weeks, that's the story. I am eager to get back into my regular rpg sessions, anything to stimulate my brain. Things are generally pretty good.
Kevin Flynn
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