Seeing Stars Among The Steps...

Day three and the fun continues...

Woke up this morning around 8:15AM, and wen and sat on the couch to watch TV as I truly woke up and gathered my wits. Around 9AM or so, I went to stand up to grab a shower and truly start my day. As I stood, sharp pain shot up and down my left leg and I apparently blacked out, because that was the last thing I remember before waking up on the couch sometime after 11AM.

My left knee has been giving me issues recently. It has mostly been an aching I can attribute to getting older, heavier, and arthritic. Today was a level of pain I have not felt in a long while, and oddly, my knee currently feels okay. It's not pain-free, but it is at or below the level I have been dealing with lately. I'll probably have it checked out soon (sometime in the next week or so), as it is now passed the point of concern.

Tonight is my pulp-fantasy home-brew RPG, Tai'eres. We have lost a couple of players, but I am not certain I want to replace them yet. I have enough notes that a rules revision is probably a thing that should be done sooner rather than later. Mostly have to carve out time for that, which should be easier to do now that I am not swimming in a pool of depression.

Things are looking better, though... just have to keep juggling for a little bit longer... which means I have to keep on focus...

peace... GD

Waking Up With The House On Fire...

Day 2... Step 2...

Lately, things have been rough from a business standpoint. I won't lie. A new competitor hit the scene and has really given us what for. In an effort to retain the business they were taking away from us, we altered and evolved our approach to be more like them. Then, out of blue morass of one of the longest depression fits I've dealt with in recent memory, a thought occurred to me...

I had lost sight of who I was as a person, and by extension, lost sight of what our store is as a business.

We had become a poor imitation of another store, and we've never been that. Armored Gopher Games has always been uniquely... Gopher.

So it shall be again... It is going to take a long time to recover from the mess I've led it to, but I, as a person, and we, as a store, are no longer going to concern ourselves with what "they do over there". We're going to concentrate on what we can do to make our store better...

Which is as it should be...

peace... GopherDave

Rebirth...

Remember this..? I wasn't certain I did...

It's been three months since my last post, and the hits have kept on coming. I'm not going to lie. To call what I have been going through "depression" really only covers a small percentage of the surface. Thing is, I'm done letting it keep beating me down. I'm done letting it win. I have reached the apex of apathy and I am now saying enough is enough.

It is time to get back to being who I truly am.

One of the first steps to doing that is to get back to a healthy routine, which includes this. Writing, even when I was writing effectively nothing, kept me clear and let me untangle what was in my head. Doing it daily helped keep me focused on things. I have so lost sight of that focus, it's not even in my time zone.

June 3rd, 2014... Day one of rebirth... Day two will be tomorrow... it has to be... I have to make positive progress or I fear I shall not return and all will truly be lost.

Don't wish me luck. In fact, don't wish me anything. I don't need the crutch or the distractions.

To all the haters, obstacles, and problems... GET. IN. THE. RING.

-- GD

Boo...

Okay, This is sort of a check in...

The month of March sort of went like this for me...

Life: "Dave... Do me a favor and plant your feet about two... two and a half feet apart, okay..."

Me: "Why?"

Life: "Just humor me..."

(Like an idiot, I spread my feet to the requested distance)

Me: "Okay, now what?"

Turns out, "what" consists of life proceeding to spend the better part of a month kicking me straight in the proverbial nut-sack. I hate when that happens, and it has pretty much driven my bi-polar ass right into a swamp of emotional morass. I could reach a greater level of depression than I am already in, but that would probably involve a bullet to the head. Luckily, I have a few things in my life that will prevent that from happening.

• One, I have a kick-ass wife who is my rock. If it were not for her, I very well would have just said "screw it" and left the area with everything that has been happening.
• Two, I have three kick-ass kids (yes, I am counting the dog) who are more than worth sticking around for. 
• Three, I have a group of friends that keep my ass in check, and check in when I get the way I am now. Thanks, guys...
• Four, my access to guns isn't what it used to be. I can still get them, but it's more difficult than it used to be, and by the time I got ahold of one, my mood would change enough that I wouldn't need it anymore. Plus, I would remember a promise I made to myself just over 26 years ago and get some damn help.

As it stands, there are some aspects in my life that demand that I be a leader in order to right the various ships. I just don't know if I have the capacity within me to do that currently.

Completely changing the subject, on the musical front, a couple of  things happened to add to my depression, and one thing happened that has helped. First, two gentlemen from bands I have enjoyed for a long time passed away. Bob Casale (a.k.a. Bob 2) from Devo and Dave Brockie (a.k.a. Oderus Urungus) from GWAR have both shuffled off this mortal coil. I look to write pieces on both of them here soon. I just need to carve out the time and mood to do so. The good thing is that I finally acquired the new album from the reggae-metal band, Skindred, and it kicks ass! Kill the Power is one of the best discs to hit my player in some time, and I'll take all the small victories I can get at this point...

peace... GopherDave

Head-On With Life, Business, and Everything Else...

Well... that month hit us like a runaway truck... In the last few weekends, I've been a touch busy...

Jan 16th-23rd: Finalized our employee back-up for the local gaming convention (Winter War 41). discovered that the Loquacious one not only has most of the things covered, she actually wants me to run games at the convention this year. Something about keeping me out of her hair and what not. However, at the time we figured out this could happen, there is literally one week before the convention. No sweat. I submit three events and bang them out in roughly four days time. There's no pressure like self-applied high pressure.

Jan 24th-26th: Winter War happens. I help load up the store, run the booth as much as Lo allows me, run three events (all went well), and help pack up and move things back to the store.

Feb 1st-2nd: Pre-release weekend for the new Magic: the Gathering set, Born of the Gods. All goes well, and, as usual, I get far less sleep than I should. Good weekend, but tiring.

Feb 7th-8th: Release weekend for MtG: Born of the Gods. Also run much much neglected Champions game after the events on Saturday.

Feb 14th & 16th:  The evening of the 14th is spent playing prototype board games for a local design competition (CUDO Plays) for which we are one of many sponsors. The day of the 16th is spent at the culminating event for said competition. Played more games. Presented an award. Then came to close the store.

In between all of these days, business, like rust, has never slept, and has kept rolling along, requiring me to keep up.

Since it had been more than a month, I figured I'd update folks with how things are going. Overall, it's been good. Sales have begun to bounce back from the 30% kick-in-the-nuts they took back during October and November of 2013. We've managed to rehire some folks, though at reduced hours from before. While we are recovering, we are not where we once were, and may not be for some time. That's okay, though. It taught me a nice business lesson and made me realize I shouldn't have been taking certain things for granted.

Now, if I can carve some time out, I need to work on my Tai'eres campaign that hasn't run in more than a month *AND* get back to a question one of the players in my Champions game posited to me about a week ago or so...

Life only gets old when you do... =P

-- GopherDave

Sideswiped...

Been re-inspired lately...

Hadn't worn a French cuff shirt in a bit. I've always dug the hexagonal cufflinks...

Okay... I had this figured out... had a game plan to get back to this thing regularly. Then, Pumpkin (our daughter) threw a big fat monkey wrench in the works. I never thought I would actually have to babysit a 17-year old, but she's made some poor decisions recently and it looks like she will be hanging around Mom, Dad, and other approved adults for the near future. (probably a month, plus.)

The weather here in the Midwest has been its usual weird self. Drop eight inches of snow, followed by Arctic blasts for a couple of days. That was in turn followed by moderately cold temps, and today it's doing this odd rain-sleet thing where it is at the right temperature to melt the snow only to slowly refreeze. When the temperature drops further later on, it'll all just be a sheet of ice. Wheeeeee!!!

The Champions game is set to run tomorrow, and I am not certain if it will happen. One player is out of town for work issues and the other may get called in to work (he works on the local road crews) if the weather gets any nastier. Another player reminded me of what was going on when we last played (a month ago) and things cannot proceed with what I have in mind until that is resolved. Small problem is... one of the key players in that scene is the one who is currently out of town. At this point, I'm ready to play it by it by ear and see what happens...

-- GopherDave

Groundpounder [CHAMPIONS 6E NPC]

GROUNDPOUNDER

Val   Char    Cost
50    STR     40
18    DEX    16
25    CON   15
20    BODY 10
5      INT      -5
10    EGO     0
20    PRE     10

8      OCV    25
8      DCV    25
3      OMCV  0
3      DMCV  0
30    PD        -2
20    ED        -2
4      SPD     20
15    REC     11
60    END      8
60    STUN  20

15m   RUN      3
0m     SWIM   -2
39m   LEAP     3
Characteristics Cost: 195

Cost Power
14 Contagious Stupidity: Drain INT 1 1/2d6, Area Of Effect (4m Radius; +1/4), Personal Immunity (+1/4), Persistent (+1/4), Constant (+1/2), Uncontrolled (+1/2), Reduced Endurance (0 END; +1/2) (49 Active Points); No Conscious Control (-2), No Range (-1/2)
30 Steel-Hard Skin: Resistant Protection (20 ED)
45 Steel-Hard Skin: Resistant Protection (30 PD)
50 Strength Tricks: Multipower, 50-point reserve
4f 1)  Knockback Resistance -50m (50 Active Points); Costs Half Endurance (-1/4)
5f 2)  Leaping +29m (39m forward, 19 1/2m upward) (x64 Noncombat), Reduced Endurance (1/2 END; +1/4) (50 Active Points)
5f 3)  Tunneling 11m through 12 PD material, x4 Noncombat, Reduced Endurance (1/2 END; +1/4) (50 Active Points)
Powers Cost: 153

Cost Martial Arts Maneuver
4 Charge:  1/2 Phase, +0 OCV, -2 DCV, 12d6 +v/10 Strike, FMove
4 Crush:  1/2 Phase, +0 OCV, +0 DCV, 14d6 Crush, Must Follow Grab
4 Martial Block:  1/2 Phase, +2 OCV, +2 DCV, Block, Abort
3 Martial Grab:  1/2 Phase, -1 OCV, -1 DCV, Grab Two Limbs, 60 STR for holding on
4 Martial Strike:  1/2 Phase, +0 OCV, +2 DCV, 12d6 Strike
5 Offensive Strike:  1/2 Phase, -2 OCV, +1 DCV, 14d6 Strike
Martial Arts Cost: 24

Cost Skill
16 +2 with HTH Combat
3 Breakfall 13-
3 Climbing 13-
3 KS: Janitorial Arts 10-
3 Streetwise 13-
Skills Cost: 28

Total Character Cost: 400

Pts. Disadvantage
15 Hunted:  Police Frequently (Less Pow; PC has a Public ID or is otherwise very easy to find; Harshly Punish)
5 Negative Reputation:  Not Very Bright, Frequently (Known Only To A Small Group)
15 Psychological Complication:  Coward (Common; Strong)
15 Psychological Complication:  Bully (Common; Strong)
15 Social Complication:  Public Identity Frequently, Major
10 Unluck: 2d6

Disadvantage Points: 75
Base Points: 400
Experience Required: 0
Total Experience Available: 0
Experience Unspent: 0

Height: 6' 4"
Weight: 286 pounds/130 kg
Hair: Brown
Eyes: Brown

Background/History: Ashmoore Whitlock was once a simple thug who had problems spelling his own name, let alone successfully committing crimes without the help of others. During a routine heist, Ashmoore was instructed to break into a chemical warehouse and open the valves on two specific tanks. Amazingly, Ashmoore did this successfully. What he didn't do was don any sort of protective gear before the dumped the contents of the two tanks onto the warehouse floor. The resultant mixture of the two substances created fumes that interacted with Ashmoore's physiology and brain chemistry, granting him his abilities of immense strength and his "stupidity field".

Not surprisingly, it turns out that Ashmoore's break in was set to be a distraction while his "friends" robbed a jewelry exchange and made off with a small fortune in uncut gems.

Since then Ashmoore/Groundpounder has been in and out of prison numerous times. How he escapes prison typically falls into one of three categories... Someone is breaking him out because their plan needs a strong, dumb guy... There is a breakout by someone else, and Groundpounder just sort of finds himself in the outward flow of things... or eventually, the guards and other prison personnel forget about his secondary ability and he just strolls out because they forgot to lock the doors behind them.

Personality/Motivation: Groundpounder is your stereotypical "dumb thug". He just happens to come with the added bonus of being able to bring those around him (friend or foe) down to his intellectual level without much effort. His general personality is that of a bully and a coward. If Groundpounder has the upper hand on someone, he'll gladly keep pounding on them until something or someone else draws his attention elsewhere. When faced with a straight-up fight he cannot easily win, Groundpounder will simply claim that he's bored and leap away.

Quote: "I'mma make you stupid!"

Powers/Tactics: Hit it until it stops moving. If it made you mad while it was moving, hit it a couple more times, just because. (GM Note: Keep in mind that his stupidity field just simply exists. Groundpounder has *ZERO* control over it and it is always on... ...even when he is unconscious.)

Campaign Use: Groundpounder is the guy who gets used by and thrown under the bus by everyone who hires him out or claims to be his friend. If a team needs a "big dumb guy" slot filled, or (more usually) needs someone to be a distraction for the heroes while the real crime is being committed, GP fits the bill nicely.

Appearance: Large. Moderately tall. Moderately wide. Pretty non-descript. Groundpounder doesn't typically wear a mask as he has been caught so many times, his identity is more than public. Plus, even if he *HAD* a secret identity, it wouldn't be a secret for long as Ashton would just probably leave his mask at home or forget to put it on, even if he had it with him in the first place.