As I used to do, in my LOTR PLaza days (atten: flagamuffin ) _refugee_ sidles into the pub. No one else is there. It is a quiet pub, with wooden walls and a long polished bar down the right, going the whole length of the establishment. On the left there are several seating tables, with a few high-tops towards the back. _ref_ sits down in the far back corner, orders a brew, and sits it, quietly waiting.
pabs steps in tentatively, glances around the dim-lit tavern. A man approaches him, asking for ID, and pabs bolts quickly out the door in panic.
Hey ref, Good morning to you. I'll have a quick beer with you, then I have to run. Today, the vice president for my company is in town and is working with me. Her plane is an hour delayed though, and our first appointment is at 10 AM Eastern standard. Not sure we are going to make it on time. A little nervous for the day, I've never worked with her before. Have a nice day everybody, I'll see you on the flip side
Pub(?) Music: Yesterday I realized I've reached a new level of zen. Nothing really upsets me anymore, or at least it takes a whole lot to really grind my gears. I have been told that this is because I'm "conflict avoidant", which I guess is true, but I don't see why that's a bad thing. The lady in front of me in line at Old Chicago was going nuts about her Goddamn blu cheese and where it's supposed to be on her burger - you don't understand everyone, it needs to be on the side, not on top, till she drove the to-go employee there to tears. She had to go take a moment and everything. I mean holy shit people, we're all going to die someday, you know that? Is this what you're gonna remember on your deathbed? "BITCH DIDN'T GIVE ME THE BLU CHEESE RIGHT, COUGH COUGH dies." It was weird. I've just stopped sweating the small stuff, I guess. It doesn't really seem worth it. Bigger stuff: complete ambivalence towards school. I dunno if it was the weather or what, but holy crap did I just feel super jaded these first two days of classes. "These are all just a checklist to get my degree." No excitement, no passion, nothing. I might go see that counselor again. We've built a pretty good rapport. Oh well. At least it's sunnier today.
Testify. Welcome to the church of not giving a fuck. Other people have problems, they aren't my problems. I have three 400 level classes this semester, I had three of them last semester. I'm used to a certain high level of data, analysis and discussion. To fill in a university requirement in this, my last semester, I have to take a freshman psychology class called 'the psychology of personality.' Just going over the syllabus, we're going to talk about Maslow, Myers-Briggs personality testing, and a brief stint with Freud and Jung. All of which are topics I've been beating to death fairly regularly since senior year of high school. Wheeeeeeeee. Personally, if I can't get excited about a class I make excellence in grade my goal. That teacher I had problems with all last semester? 4.0'ed that bitch. I've just stopped sweating the small stuff, I guess. It doesn't really seem worth it.
I have a hate-on for Myers-Briggs for a whole lot of reasons, but mostly because of this - an article by Malcom Gladwell (who himself might cause ambivalence in some hubbies) that tells about who Myers and Briggs were and how they made up their data. Please let me know what you think. I have other problems with M-B too. Anyway, congrats on your 4.0.
Thanks! I actually 4.0'ed the whole semester except for a single 3.5, which is my highest GPA semester since I started uni. I don't know how to feel about the M-B. Someone very close to me got a lot out of taking a few of the tests, and reading about things that 'my type' likes/dislikes, finds comforting, struggles with, that kind of stuff. If it's had a net positive impact, as far as I can see, I find it hard to devalue it completely. (I'm an ENTJ, The Executive)
Anything that helps us understand ourselves and others can be interesting. My problem is people have used it as an excuse: I can't help it - I'm xyz - or whatever. That's not the point of mb. The point is to find out that people might be different from you and learn skills to accept them, understand them, and communicate with them (if you need to be on their team, or have them for in-laws, say). My other problem with mb is more pedagogical - as in -- what is the best way to teach people to be good communicators? Should we spend our few classroom moments making them do an mb test or actually teach them skills they can use when they are communicating. oh Jesus, and those tests: Would you rather go for a walk in the forest or go to a party? Sometimes, a walk in the forest replenishes the spirit, sometimes a party.
hey 8bit I hope you find the right program, mentor, education, life, career, and all. I have a feeling that you have a lot of amazingness to give the world to make it a better place if the world doesn't drive the amazingness out of you first. the soundtrack to this conversation is gorgeous: 03: Hills of Radiant Wind (9'00) and 04: Snow in Summer....
I want to play tabletop games so badly. I tried to get two of my friends to play fiasco with me but nope. I did get them to play a bit of CaH though - so that was fun. So D&D or Pandemic or any other fun and complicated games are probably right out.
I've tried, but it since a lot of people are in the US it's in the middle of the night.
I also started a 'real' D&D 5e campaign this Sunday! I've played the D&D board game and Pathfinder and the likes before, but now that we've played a bit of the real deal I know that I like it much more than the derivatives. It's so much fun to have a bunch of characters, throw them in a situation and find creative solutions.
Nice. I'm beginning to think my DM is just mediocre or something, because I haven't enjoyed our campaign nearly as much as I expected / other people seem to. The immersion just isn't there-- we have a running joke that our campaign should be subtitled "or, [our DM] flips through books to music." Maybe I just have an underdeveloped imagination.
Your DM is sticking too close to his plan. Ask him as nicely as possible if he can improvise now and then. The numbers only matter to the most hardcore of players. You have to get a sense for die rolls and just go from there to keep the game moving. Is the door made of oak? Kicking it down will probably require a higher roll than if it was rotted through. Maybe only a Warrior-type character can do it. Is a character trying to slash a goblin in a super narrow hallway with a longsword? Probably a difficult throw. Is your character a thief trying to eavesdrop on the other side of a hollow wall? Probably an easy throw.
This is my problem with published campaigns generally, I think. I much prefer when a DM has constructed their own world not only because it's more interesting, but also because it allows for greater and more effective improvisation. It seems to me the best improvisation carries with it the necessary underpinning of a fundamental understanding of the world in (or with) which one is improvising, which is easiest to obtain when it's a world you've constructed.
The DM I have now, a good friend of mine, had a similar experience to yours a month ago. As a result he became a DM himself, focusing less on the rules and more on fun. From my limited experience, D&D is the most fun when it is akin to improv comedy. If everyone takes the rules less seriously and comes up with creative new things to do, actions to take, it should be fun. But if the person leading the game / improv scene isn't going along, it's not gonna happen.
That sounds like what I may do, I keep thinking that I'd really like to DM to see if I can do better.The DM I have now, a good friend of mine, had a similar experience to yours a month ago. As a result he became a DM himself, focusing less on the rules and more on fun.
Yeah. It sounds like your DM may be new to running or isn't confident in throwing in his own flavor to the mechanics of the game. I have had DMs like that. After a couple of years of practice they become better DMs. But I would say encourage him to go off-book.
"Why, are you - are you the famous field agent Lilian Snow?"
"Yes, I am - or at least rather, I believe I may be. You see, the other day I received this mysterious postcard: And now, as I was strolling through the streets of Hubski, just now, I felt a most particular urge, as if I ought to come in here and wait for someone. It seemed to emanate - from the postcard itself! I can only imagine it must be some kind of compulsion, set upon the object by its mystical sender. When you entered, the feeling ceased. So let us talk. What is on your mind?" (OOC: my power has just gone out and I'd really like it to come back on?)
I received strange card as well. It depicts a Canadian brilliance overwhelming the universe. The Great White North has become an arid desert; Greenland and Baffin Island have defrosted and sunk. A mysterious inscription is the only clue as to how to understand this Earth-finishing image. Could it be an anagram for the DAMNED FUN OIL which overwarmed the globe? Or a warning, FILM NO UNDEAD from a zombie cohort tired of Hollywood stereotypes? Or some kind of cruel joke, O FINE MUD LAND.
SBG shuffles into pub. Is told to show ID. Shows passport. Is informed the passport is out of date and that even if it wasn't it shows her as 16. SBG sits down on the other side of the "alchool" line and orders a non-alchoolic cider that she drinks like it's vodka.