Selecting the new Lanterns

 

It is time.

 

The old worlds are dying and new ones are waiting to be born.

New games are being prepared as I write. Plans are afoot and the GM selection process is taking place for the forthcoming games.

GM Krzys will be offering a Changing Breeds, which as I understand it is a World of Darkness game involving a genetic melting pot - chimeras crossed with other chimeras set in the frozen realm of Alaska.

GM Warren will be offering to continue the Dungeons and Dragons adventure as the mystery surrounding Neverwinter Seige deepens.

GM Jack will be offering one of the following: A 13th Age continuation of the previous adventure set in the Mage town of Eldolan. A game of Strike, a D6 based SciFi scenario. Or finally a game of Feng Shui 2, a hidden history of the Chi War replete with sorcerers, monks and cyborgs. Really depends on how weird people want to get..

If you are thinking of coming along or coming back, now is an excellent time to grab a character and make it your own.

Assassins Wanted.

One of the issues I have raised before regarding the Eclipse Phase game is one of mortality, or lack thereof. It's one of the many underpinning aspects of the universe that requires a serious shift in a player's mentality. It's a tricky one though as I am unclear as yet what the difference is exactly between transferring a consciousness and copying one. I would have though that a being would cling onto life under any circumstances even if backups are available, as backups, and forks for that matter, are just copies and separate personalities. Other than vanity from a human perspective, why would I even bother to create a copy or backup of myself at all ? Death comes to me in all its form unless it is actually my consciousness itself that is transferred at the moment of death. This cannot be the case of course if my brain is slowly altered through drugs, medical procedures or torture ie I can go through a radical personality alteration before expiring.

The point about this is that we were mustering a plan to assassinate someone in the last game but the conversation slowed dramatically as we began to realise that the individual will have copies. In that case we don't actually care about his personal view on immortality, we just have to take him out. But are we satisfied with just removing his current persona ? Well, we located his business address and have plans to destroy his server racks where at least one backup resides but we have no idea at this stage if he has further backups and if indeed they lie within a major,  maximum security corporation that provides such services on the basis that they can never be compromised. Mission Impossible comes to mind, so we have been discussing methods of possibly infecting his backups in order to destroy them aside from physical intervention. As always, I am sure that the meticulous planning phase of our mission will bear no resemblance at all to reality.

 

As much as I raise an eyebrow over what could be a flaw in this game, I am reminded of course that it is also an issue in many other more classic scenarios. I recall having to hunt down the individual embalmed organs of Liches in order to ensure that they can be killed, and Vampires, particularly the high level ones, do have a tendency to repeat offend, this is perhaps nothing new in the problem we are facing .

 

We need the cyber equivalent of a wooden stake.

Are you local ?

In my opinion the Brighton Roleplaying club is one of the most welcoming public facing clubs I have ever been to. As much courage as it take to turn up at an event full of strangers or even return to one after many months or years, one can be assured of a gregarious and hearty welcome no matter where you may be from; beerish is an international language we all speak. I like to think of us as a local foreign legion, where we fight and adventure together, one and all, no matter what our backgrounds. A sort of them and us without the them. I have neglected to post an on line welcome to two of our newest members who have joined us, so a very warm welcome to Fade and Julian and I do hope you find us a regular escape from reality. Welcome Sirs.

 

Online comms are a bit of a Ying Yang also, it is often the case that other similar groups arise in our local area asking after games to join or venues to use. In one sense its a bit schizophrenic but on the other hand its just a matter of interest groups joining with each other rather than think that they are alone. Part of me wants to create one giant reolplaying centre where everyone can come under the same roof and get to know one another but of course we have people who travel from afar and if they can get a game closer to home then its understandable.

 

This week I have had the pleasure of chatting with Simon Filler who has a facebook group of interested local parties for DnD adventuring-

 

 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1637959583133640/1638861303043468/?comment_id=1641852809410984&notif_t=group_comment.

 

The game is so iconastic it is even a phrase such that people may know what you mean by DnD but not know what you mean by roleplaying. We have chatted in our magic circles and have sort of decided that it would be a good idea to have a DnD run all the time albeit with rotating games and DMs of course. Not literally, though. Whilst we operate on a Thursday primarily, if we get enough interest then we can simply run an additional evening or arrange a home game.

 

So to cut a long blog short, it you are interested in DnD, which is a magnificent roleplaying game, or any other roleplaying game at all then don't hesitate, do come along whether you are a group looking for a venue or a player looking for a game or a thief looking for loot, we will look after you.

 

See you all there!

Evil breakfasts

There are a number of aspects to day to day survival which don't always occur to me when thinking of people of note such as the Queen, the Nolan Sisters or Ricky Gervais for example. Fame or infamy notwithstanding there is always the matter of breakfast and whether you get up late or not I suggest you would in most circumstances enjoy a late breakfast rather than an early lunch. Now if pressed, and certainly in an emergency, I could make it to the local deli in my dressing gown and force down a quick pastrami panini with a mocha or two but running in sandals in not becoming when one reaches a certain level and excessive flapping of undergarments whilst traversing at speed often draws unseemly attention.

 

However, for a suitably refined dining experience I would be prepared to extend some risk in certain areas and recommend an establishment to a friend even if it is in a less cordial location. Nevertheless there are meal times that make me somewhat nervous despite the quality of the food or establishment.

 

Sitting across a table in a local pub with a Wizard of Thay eating a bowl of gruel is one of those circumstances.

[http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/Red_Wizards_of_Thay]

 

Hiding in plain sight is an old trick and the more colourful and irritating a character then the more likely one is to cast an encounter to the back of the mind, Jesters being an example in kind. But there is sometimes so much wrong with a picture when you first see it that it can simply blind you entirely or cause you to move on blankly. But this has been bothering me. Wizards of Thay are not known for just popping out for breakfast and whilst a stark and featureless bowl of gruel somewhat befits a stark and featureless gaze I am wondering why we came across him or indeed perhaps the opposite is true and he has deliberately happened across us.

 

Either way its a timely reminder that the subtle things matter just as much as the axe wielding and  we will need to keep an eye out over more than just breakfast.

 

In other words, beware the Muffins of Destiny.