My weekend: in which gardening takes centre stage and I realize that I am become middle aged
First of all, before I begin this entry, I feel the need to gloat.
I AM BECOME SALZOR: DESTROYER OF NETTLES
Yes, that feels much better. I've just got in from an hour or so attacking my garden with a strimmer. Currently the garden is looking ragged, but there are no more nettles, no more knee high grass and I'm quite impressed with how solid my roses are looking. I'm considering getting some more rose bushes, actually, as they seem to be the only thing that flourish in my garden. I'm just not sure what will go with my current rose bush, which is a silver ghost shrub rose. I'm considering getting a rose named 'Cardinal Richelieu', just because I love the name, but will purple flowers go with white?
Oh! The decisions!
Anyway, away from that. How has my bank holiday weekend been?
Absolutely lovely.
It all started on Saturday, when instead of playing the Zeitgeist games, I acquired a skinny_cartman. We went and got thai food, and then came back to the College Arms and sat upstairs gossiping about the old days in Cam, the new days in Isle of Darkness, and almost everyone we know. It was lovely, and reminded me that I must spend more time with Matt. I'm also informed that although the ZG games were fairly small this weekend (15-20 players, which we kinda knew was going to happen as a lot of folk were away rubber swording), they went really well and people enjoyed them.
Sunday was a day of gaming, which again seemed to go fairly well. I had been hoping to skive off Mortals in the evening and run away to Essex Mage, but for various reasons this became increasingly less feasible over the weekend and ended up not happening, which was sucky, but did mean I was on hand to run a dungeon bash through a Mysterious Scientific Installation.
As a random note, I have a single template for a Mysterious Hospital/Pentex Base/Sharak Base/Scientific Installation which I've been using for the last four years. I quite like that base. I know it well. So far three PC groups have run through it at different times and it's been kinda interesting seeing the different reactions to it, and it's really made me realize just how the power level of the game has changed over time.
About three and a half years ago, most of the Garou venue (around 20 PCs at the time) launched a hit on that installation. There were three PC deaths, several more near deaths, a lot of Rage Heals, and they managed to scrabble away having rescued a small number of cubs who were being kept. At the time, jez actually had stern words with me about over-statting my NPCs, with particular commentary on the freakish skinless dogs that I'd ripped straight out of Resident Evil.*
About two years ago, a second group of Garou PCs - I believe there were around 6 of them - stealthed into another facility which I had designed using the same template with some upgrades. This is mostly memorable for unifex's hideous misuse of luck powers, to somehow amble through the entire place with no stealth, no security, but an amazing ability to wander off after butterflies two minutes before the bad guys came trotting round the corner. I believe in that run there was one Rage Heal, no death, and the three guys they wanted to 'rescue' were rescued.
On Sunday, two PCs and an NPC romped through it in a near perfect sweep. Admittedly, this was mostly because I had designed it for Garou. I had not designed it for Magi. I had definitely not designed it for a Son of Ether who could fill the place with magical chloroform from range, knocking out all the guards. So, maybe it's less to do with power level, and more to do with different venues having different strengths.
I got distracted halfway through the afternoon by this fantastic idea for a one off murder mystery space opera game, and I couldn't shift it from my mind. I now have this overwhelming urge to run it, but I don't know if I ever will, or if it would work. Sometimes my games do really only work in my head. Nevertheless, I may see if I can get jez and Ginnie to test play it at some point.
We got home fairly early last night, I crashed out, and woke up alarmingly early this morning.
This morning has so far been spent battering my garden into submission, with a fair degree of success, and looking at roses. I'm really really tempted to get some more shrub roses - they seem nearly indestructible, and really pretty. I'm just undecided on how I should pick them. I mean, should I pick roses based on colour? Or scent? I'm worried that the very scented ones would be high pollen and would kill my Best Beloved. I want to pick them on names (the Brother Cadfael? Or the Cardinal Richelieu? Perhaps the Desert Orchid?) but I suspect that's silly.
I'm also popping out to meet my sisterkin in about an hour or so, and then back to see people for BBQ-age this afternoon into evening.
And that shall be my day!
I hope everyone else has had a lovely weekend. Feel free to tell me about it. I always like to know...
*I had watched Resident Evil shortly before statting that base. The more time PCs spend there, the more apparent this becomes. It may be just as well that the game is ending soon, as I think I'll get throttled if anyone ever makes it down to the subterranean levels.
I AM BECOME SALZOR: DESTROYER OF NETTLES
Yes, that feels much better. I've just got in from an hour or so attacking my garden with a strimmer. Currently the garden is looking ragged, but there are no more nettles, no more knee high grass and I'm quite impressed with how solid my roses are looking. I'm considering getting some more rose bushes, actually, as they seem to be the only thing that flourish in my garden. I'm just not sure what will go with my current rose bush, which is a silver ghost shrub rose. I'm considering getting a rose named 'Cardinal Richelieu', just because I love the name, but will purple flowers go with white?
Oh! The decisions!
Anyway, away from that. How has my bank holiday weekend been?
Absolutely lovely.
It all started on Saturday, when instead of playing the Zeitgeist games, I acquired a skinny_cartman. We went and got thai food, and then came back to the College Arms and sat upstairs gossiping about the old days in Cam, the new days in Isle of Darkness, and almost everyone we know. It was lovely, and reminded me that I must spend more time with Matt. I'm also informed that although the ZG games were fairly small this weekend (15-20 players, which we kinda knew was going to happen as a lot of folk were away rubber swording), they went really well and people enjoyed them.
Sunday was a day of gaming, which again seemed to go fairly well. I had been hoping to skive off Mortals in the evening and run away to Essex Mage, but for various reasons this became increasingly less feasible over the weekend and ended up not happening, which was sucky, but did mean I was on hand to run a dungeon bash through a Mysterious Scientific Installation.
As a random note, I have a single template for a Mysterious Hospital/Pentex Base/Sharak Base/Scientific Installation which I've been using for the last four years. I quite like that base. I know it well. So far three PC groups have run through it at different times and it's been kinda interesting seeing the different reactions to it, and it's really made me realize just how the power level of the game has changed over time.
About three and a half years ago, most of the Garou venue (around 20 PCs at the time) launched a hit on that installation. There were three PC deaths, several more near deaths, a lot of Rage Heals, and they managed to scrabble away having rescued a small number of cubs who were being kept. At the time, jez actually had stern words with me about over-statting my NPCs, with particular commentary on the freakish skinless dogs that I'd ripped straight out of Resident Evil.*
About two years ago, a second group of Garou PCs - I believe there were around 6 of them - stealthed into another facility which I had designed using the same template with some upgrades. This is mostly memorable for unifex's hideous misuse of luck powers, to somehow amble through the entire place with no stealth, no security, but an amazing ability to wander off after butterflies two minutes before the bad guys came trotting round the corner. I believe in that run there was one Rage Heal, no death, and the three guys they wanted to 'rescue' were rescued.
On Sunday, two PCs and an NPC romped through it in a near perfect sweep. Admittedly, this was mostly because I had designed it for Garou. I had not designed it for Magi. I had definitely not designed it for a Son of Ether who could fill the place with magical chloroform from range, knocking out all the guards. So, maybe it's less to do with power level, and more to do with different venues having different strengths.
I got distracted halfway through the afternoon by this fantastic idea for a one off murder mystery space opera game, and I couldn't shift it from my mind. I now have this overwhelming urge to run it, but I don't know if I ever will, or if it would work. Sometimes my games do really only work in my head. Nevertheless, I may see if I can get jez and Ginnie to test play it at some point.
We got home fairly early last night, I crashed out, and woke up alarmingly early this morning.
This morning has so far been spent battering my garden into submission, with a fair degree of success, and looking at roses. I'm really really tempted to get some more shrub roses - they seem nearly indestructible, and really pretty. I'm just undecided on how I should pick them. I mean, should I pick roses based on colour? Or scent? I'm worried that the very scented ones would be high pollen and would kill my Best Beloved. I want to pick them on names (the Brother Cadfael? Or the Cardinal Richelieu? Perhaps the Desert Orchid?) but I suspect that's silly.
I'm also popping out to meet my sisterkin in about an hour or so, and then back to see people for BBQ-age this afternoon into evening.
And that shall be my day!
I hope everyone else has had a lovely weekend. Feel free to tell me about it. I always like to know...
*I had watched Resident Evil shortly before statting that base. The more time PCs spend there, the more apparent this becomes. It may be just as well that the game is ending soon, as I think I'll get throttled if anyone ever makes it down to the subterranean levels.