Friday, August 31, 2012

I'm Late... I'm Late...


Okay, this is going to b a quick entry as today is Friday Night Magic and an anticipated release for a limited availability product. Oh, and it's shipment day as well, with ANOTHER limited availability product that goes on sale tomorrow. Plus there are errands to run...

Yep, my life is not complicated at all. It's also never complicated when I oversleep by ninety minutes...

Energizer bunny time, folks... You have yourselves a good one.

-- GopherDave

Thursday, August 30, 2012

Seriously... No Pressure...


I just looked at the calendar and then at the work schedule I had planned back in June to make all of the preparations for Winter War happen without a hitch...

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!

Yep... not behind at all... (snicker)... Aw Hell, I can't even type that with a straight face. Right, so I am about a month behind where I want to be with this work, but I am not so far behind that I cannot catch up. Given that actual progress was made last night, there is hope that I can actually do so.

Looking over most of the rules, I am actually closer that I thought to being done with the base, generic rules. There are definitions to do, but most of hard stuff is in place. Now I just have to work on the genre-specific stuff. With the genres I'm covering with games at Winter War (Western, Post-Apocalyptic Fantasy, Space Opera, and Modern-Day Paranormal), most of that should be knocked out of the park in short order, as well.

On the lack of pressure side, just got a visit from an old friend whom I hadn't seen in 25 years. That was cool. It looks like he, I, and few other old friends are trying to get together Sunday evening to hang out, maybe have some dinner, and just catch up. It'll be good... =)

Until then, though, there's work to be done...

-- GopherDave

Progress Is Made...

Been doing some work on the skill list for Dicebag tonight. Just started working on minimal definitions, and have spent the last few nights refining the skill list, trying to trim it down to what I consider the bare essentials for the system.

Anything that is "genre-specific" like "spellcasting", "psionics", or "computer hacking" will be included in the setting documents meant to add to and/or modify the base rules for campaigns that use those elements.

The generic, master skill list..? Here ya go...
  • Animal Handling
  • Art/Craft (Specify)
  • Barter/Trade
  • Carousing
  • Climbing
  • Combat, Armed
  • Combat, Ranged
  • Combat, Unarmed
  • Deception (Specify; Fast Talk, Disguise, Mimicry, Acting, Forgery)
  • Deduction
  • Demolitions
  • Dodge
  • Escape Artist
  • Gambling
  • Healing
  • Interrogation
  • Intimidation
  • Knowledge (Specify)
  • Leadership
  • Lip Reading
  • Public Speaking
  • Repair
  • Research
  • Security
  • Seduction
  • Shield
  • Sleight-of-Hand
  • Stealth
  • Survival (Specify; Urban, Outdoor, Social)
  • Swimming
  • Throwing
  • Tracking
Looking at the list, a couple more may get trimmed, but I think it is pretty solid as it stands.

-- GopherDave

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Odd... But Good...


Things have been moving right along here, with me falling back into good habits that I had dropped for a bit. The one habit I need to pick back up though is working out. I have not done so for a bit, and I need to make that happen once again. Two or three times a week should be more than doable, I just have to carve it out of my schedule, which seems to have become clogged once again.

Not much is happening beyond that. The AC at the store is fixed, so my sweater vest-wearing self is happy on that front. I have been looking at game stuff and gearing up to run a game to find no spots on the store schedule that would be conducive to my doing so. I find that odd, but encouraging.

This Saturday I am thinking about making a short drive to Terre Haute to ISU-Con, just to check it out. It's not that far away, and I have the day off. Then again, I might check out some other area stores just to see what they are doing well that we might be able to implement at the Gopher.

Or I might just stay home and endure the remnants of Hurricane Isaac if it heads this way and hits us about that time...

-- GopherDave

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Mental Flattulence...


Okay... I am currently sitting in GopherSemi-Inferno. The air conditioning gave up the ghost Sunday night. Calls were made Monday morning. Technician came out Monday afternoon and proclaimed things "not broken". I came in last night to work on things and found that is was 73 degrees in the store. I came back this morning to find it was 76 and climbing. More calls have been made. I have managed to coax SOME cool out of it, but I am still waiting for a technician to come out and actually do their job of repairing an item instead of fiddling with it enough to get it to "work" and leaving.

Game-wise, not much work got done, but I do have a more focused plan of attack. Going over my convention blurbs gave me some ideas on where to direct some of my work effort and things are being put into place to allow me to actually do some of that work. Talking with Skribl last night also has me a bit jazzed. I know he's biased, and his experience is somewhat limited, but he honestly believes that my Tai'eres (post-apocalyptic fantasy) setting is one of the best settings he's ever played in. That actually has me a more than a bit amped to work on things.

Loq and I also went and viewed the Expendables 2 last night. It's a fun popcorn movie, not quite as good as the first, with some memorable lines and a way-too-difficult-to-track body count. Definitely worth at least a rental.

Anyway, off to do work...

-- GopherDave

Sunday, August 26, 2012

The Aftereffect...


Much of what has happened at CasaGopher today has been on the relaxing side. Even though I had a vacation last week, it is nice just to "turn off" GopherDave and just be Dave for a bit. I need that relaxation time to settle down and think about gaming stuff.

During the down time today, I got an idea for yet another setting, but it is one I need to consult with my more science-oriented friends about. The idea is more space opera than hard science fiction, but there are some questions I need answers for in order to make the setting to be more believable to both the players and myself. Right now, I'm thinking light-/heat-based weapons technology and ceramic based armors, with a mood closer to Deep Space 9/Babylon 5 than Blade Runner/Star Wars. I'm still working out some social details in my head, but thoughts may hit "paper" soon enough.

System-wise, I am looking at the homebrew I'm currently twonking on, and ideas on how to incorporate non-human races into said system have finally been ruminating in my skull. I'm hoping to find time tonight to look at what I have so far and actually get some work done.

Wish me some form of luck...

-- GopherDave