Some days I'm astonished we survived.Originally Posted by chirine ba kal
Fortunately, we both speak Squeak Bear.
Some days I'm astonished we survived.
Fortunately, we both speak Squeak Bear.
I don't care if you respect me, just buy my fucking book.
Formerly known as Old Geezer
I don't need an Ignore List, I need a Tongue My Pee Hole list.
The rules can't cure stupid, and the rules can't cure asshole.
I thought you might be able to recognize them.
They actually look after Si N'te and the twins; I, in theory, have a half-dozen troopers to look after me. While, yes, I am a pretty hot-poop magic-user the big spells do take some time and effort to cast. In the early days, Vrisa used to make sure that nobody snuck up behind me and bashed me over the head with a rock; once she got called back to Saa Alliqui, because of the Tsolyani invasion, I had to be a lot more careful. Luckily for me, the party had added some more solid fighters at that point.
Which is an interesting point; we always played as if we were a 'combined arms combat team', with a healthy mix of fighters and magic-users in the party. (I am leaving out 'Priests', as they can be either.) And I was, for most of my time in Phil's campaign, not used to any great extent as a magic-user; the 'military sorcerer-priest' is just not all that useful in your usual adventuring party. I spent most of my career hitting people over the head with my mace, and providing 'lore and wisdom' to the newer players.
The 'younger generation' of NPC's, like Vrisa's brother Mridan, were mostly all rolled up in full stats, and then 'went along for the ride' most of the time. They did get played a lot; we developed a need, over the years, to have decent 'stock' characters for guests and visitors to play. Phil had had some very poor experiences with guests bringing their own PCs from their campaigns to the table; a lot of them just didn't mesh well with any of us who were there and our play style, let alone mesh in with any of Phil's current plot lines. Having these 'stock' characters gave visitors something fun and survivable to play, and which also got them included in whatever adventure we were on at that particular point in time.
One of my jobs as scribe/archivist/recorder was to keep accurate records of these people, and have a sheet - basically a 'stat sheet' with the character's back story - handy for the guest to pick and choose from our selection.
So, that's where a lot of these folks come from. They adventured with us, and we appreciated the help.
Agreed; this may be from what you call 'thinking tactically'. Looking back on it, I think we managed to dodge a lot of bullets that caught other people, and often caught them pretty badly. We tended to cut our losses and get clear, over the years, where other folks would ride the thing down in flames...
Will anyone out there in Internet-land catch that latest obscure reference?
Well, I'm sure it may involve wargaming(safe bet) and pink trees of death. Maybe even morse code, tanks, and Russians. I've led a secluded life in Do Chaka.I'm here for the education...Agreed; this may be from what you call 'thinking tactically'. Looking back on it, I think we managed to dodge a lot of bullets that caught other people, and often caught them pretty badly. We tended to cut our losses and get clear, over the years, where other folks would ride the thing down in flames...
Will anyone out there in Internet-land catch that latest obscure reference?
H :0)
Then you're in for a good time. The reference is to none of the above, actually. Think Gronan's name, squeak bears, and the 1976 World Con in Kansas City. That's the convention where a film student / fan who got a job directing movies was talking about his new film - which he hoped might be popular...
I'll have to check the archives; I may still have my copy of the then-brand new 3/4" U-matic tapes we made of the performance. We laughed so hard we had to get off the camera riser.
Fasten your safety belts. We're in for a wild ride.
Thank goodness I'm not really a betting man. I owe you...the only thing that I can come up with is George Lucas...maybe John Milius talking about Star Wars...Squeaky bears...??? In 1976, I was but four years old...!!!Then you're in for a good time. The reference is to none of the above, actually. Think Gronan's name, squeak bears, and the 1976 World Con in Kansas City. That's the convention where a film student / fan who got a job directing movies was talking about his new film - which he hoped might be popular...
I'll have to check the archives; I may still have my copy of the then-brand new 3/4" U-matic tapes we made of the performance. We laughed so hard we had to get off the camera riser.
Fasten your safety belts. We're in for a wild ride.
I'll try to hang on!!!
H :0)
1) I'm even more amazed now1) About 4,000 male gamers attending the convention. They walked by these three and went to the Dragon Bone demo.
2) Two guys trying to sell their products. You could say that they were very focused.
3) Agreed. I've met something like 100,000 people over the past thirty-some years, and I would agree with you - a lot of them have been weird, even by my standards.
4) I don't know; I never saw them again. We did have a good time, though, which is why they're in my book - I like to remember people who have been in my life.
5) Understood. Different game styles for different people.
2) I'd say, forgive me for my frankness, that they were focused on the wrong thing.
3) About 3800 of those visitors included...
4) They seem fun, I'll grant that.
5) I guess so. Thinking of it, the group has changed completely. Maybe I should give some suggestions to the current roaster of players.
No problem. "Would the three of you mind taking a moment and saying hello to that nice man I was telling you about?"
"Why, yes, Lord -"
"- we'd be happy to as you -"
"- always have the nicest guests!"
"And he's very gallant to compare us -"
"- to our friends in Accounting - "
"- or to Djel, too!"
(in chorus
I love these moments, I do...
By the by, there are now four clerks in Accounting, thanks to a kind gift from Dr. Mike Burns of Dark Fable Miniatures.
"Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows. It's a very mean and nasty place, and I don't care how tough you are, it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain't about how hard you hit. It's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward; how much you can take and keep moving forward." - Rocky
And I met this young guy named Mark who had some really funny stories.
.... you know, you and I may be the only ones left who remember
"The Journal of the Whills"...
I don't care if you respect me, just buy my fucking book.
Formerly known as Old Geezer
I don't need an Ignore List, I need a Tongue My Pee Hole list.
The rules can't cure stupid, and the rules can't cure asshole.
No problem - not all of us are as old as the hills.
It was the incredible performance by Firesign Theater of "The Adventures Of Gronan The Barbarian', a totally wonderful and wacky send up of the entire Sword and Sorcery genre. With just four guys, they did all of the characters from all of the Conan series, with a healthy dose of everything else under the sun thrown in. There were maybe a couple of hundred people in the room, and we all lost it in the first sixty seconds.
Fanfare (on kazoos):
"The Mighty-sinewed Gronan, wandering the land in a time when men were men and sheep were careful!"
And so on, for the next forty-five minutes. Gronan wore a colander on his head - yes, in the very best radio theater tradition, they acted out all of the parts and actions. Gronan had, sadly, been orphaned as a wee child, but had been raised in the forest by - you guessed it! - squeak bears. The toy bear had a lot of dialog, too. (I own both a squeak octopus and a squeak squid, obtained from what might just be the world's finest toy store, in Winnepeg, which make regular appearances in games.) Firesign Theater was almost the flagship of F/SF fandom back in those days, and Dave Arneson was one of their fans. You can see their influence in Blackmoor. Quite a lot of influence, actually.
I think you can find them on the web; you might want to have a listen...
I did get to talk to George Lucas, by the way; he had a little room off one of the stairwells, where there was all the Ralph McQuarrie art (that was later stolen) and some of the costumes - I got to wear both the Stormtrooper and Darth Vader costumes. Lots of the prop weapons, and I seemed to impress the nice man when I could rattle off all the weapons and weapon parts used to make them. It was a wonderful three hours! And I got to read all nine scripts, too...
And I had been adventuring with Gronan for almost five years by that time. Great minds think alike.
"Squeak Bear says he doesn't know where the Kitchen Magician is."
* WHAP! *
"Squeak Bear says he just remembered."
I don't care if you respect me, just buy my fucking book.
Formerly known as Old Geezer
I don't need an Ignore List, I need a Tongue My Pee Hole list.
The rules can't cure stupid, and the rules can't cure asshole.
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