As Jarrett has taken the helm of our semi-weekly D&D session, I have stepped again into the role of a paladin in our new party. Now let me take a moment to explain the way I see roleplaying. The way I see it, there are three approaches. The first is simple. Your only speech is out of character and the only guiding principles for character development are those that are convenient. The second is more complex. You play what you know. If you have a knack for behaving like a scoundrel and speaking in thieves' cant you usually play rogues and seldom deviate from the path. Or if you have a penchant for grandiose language and eclectic eccentricities you play wizards. The final type of roleplaying is perhaps the most challenging of them all, selecting a character personality at random or on a whim and attempting to portray the character as well as possible. While this third attempt may not be a stimulating exercise in creativity since the ideas are rarely your own (unless of course you like to devise your own Table of Personality Traits), it is an extraordinary exercise in versatility, one that I enjoy very much. Hence, I have played back-talking barbarians, wise-cracking wizards, ruthless rogues, conscientious clerics, bombastic bards, and yes, pious paladins.

My last true effort at playing a paladin was cut short as he died an heroic death that was probably unnecessary. The only way my DM at the time offered to allow him to be raised was by an avatar of Loki; I smelled a terrible plot hook coming on and I didn't bite, choosing to roll up a new character instead. I have been itching to take a crack at the task again ever since and this changing of the DM chairs has allowed me to do so. One of the reasons I wanted to try the paladin again is because I was such a miserable one last time. I didn't fall from grace or anything like that (although every good paladin experience should come with at least an impending threat of such once in a while). But my character was not very commanding. I had a very difficult time taking charge of the role and playing him like the leader he should have been. If I had been Michael Keaton and roleplaying had been acting, it would have been the Multiplicity of my career; a terrible part and a jarring performance all in one.

Well now I am playing a paladin again and it feels good to be the beacon of light in a dungeon of darkness. (I used that line during the session too and no one noticed. How dare they!) Things have gone well so far. I feel like I am doing a pretty good job of living up to the paladin's code while still being a bit realistic. My character isn't necessarily a paragon of virtue; he has his flaws. But rather than your garden variety holier-than-thou persona, I have chosen a slightly different route. He is prideful to be sure, and has his share of vaingloriousness, but his true weakness is inability to accept anything less than full leadership of the party. So far, he has asserted himself as the de facto commander, pushing the party on and directing them in combat. But he has already made some unpopular decisions, such as deciding to return a magical sword we discovered to the family of its previous owner (privileged information he possessed by virtue of his impressive Knowledge (nobility and royalty) check). If the party should turn against him for any reason, it will be a great challenge indeed for him to remain with them as anything but their leader. If they insist on him stepping down, or something as abhorrent as democratic processes, which we all know are very unLawful things, then it could turn ugly.

I am looking forward to how this works out. However, I do look to be off on a good foot. For now, the party is at least listening to my paladin, even if they do roll their eyes at every other word.

I would like to move that "Rock Lobster" by the B-52s be designated the most annoying song in the world to have stuck in your head while blogging and that it should be stricken from the collective consciousness. All in favor?

airwalkrr

I wouldn't wish insomnia on anyone. A lot of people complain about insomnia when they really just have trouble getting to sleep due to back pain, foot pain (typically some kind of pain). But actually being unable to sleep without pills is kind of frightening sometimes.

I don't have true insomnia though. I either sleep too much or not at all, neither of which is too good for my health. So I just try my best to keep a normal schedule. But nights like this when my mind is just exploding and the tempting thought of another sleeping pill dances around in my head are almost too much. I'm really not a fan of pill dependency, but at this point do I have another option?

Here's my dilemma. When you take sleeping pills, you have to take them at bed time. And when you take them, you have to be prepared to sleep for at least 7 hours straight (sometimes you can manage to wake up after 6). They keep you asleep that long. So when I have less than 8 hours to sleep at night, if I am not asleep within 30 minutes, I have an agonizing decision to make. Do I pop the pill and feed my habit, or do I take the chance that I will be able to go to sleep on my own. And if I don't get to sleep on my own, should I take it an hour later, knowing that it will cause me to sleep in and likely be late for work? And if I don't take it at all, will I be in any condition to go to work without sleep?

These are just a few of the questions that I wrestle with almost every night. I just thought I'd get that off my chest.

airwalkrr

I won't be able to muster up enough cash to make a donation to EN World until payday, and when I do it will be small, but I am planning on doing so and if you love EN World even a fraction as much as I do you will at least consider doing the same. I've lurked these pages since around the time of 3rd edition's release and finally decided to get involved in the messageboards with the release of 3.5 and I can say with resolute honesty that this is really a great online community to belong to. The "lifers" are respectful to each other and have a real passion for their hobby. All that said, I really hope there is a solution to the server woes soon. All the double posts and page loading difficulties are really beginning to wear thin on me. I remain steadfast in my belief that EN World will recover. I just hope they do so before getting completely steamrolled by other sites carrying D&D news.

Though I am not yet a fan of 4th edition, I want to reserve final judgment until I have actually played the system. Unfortunately, no one in my area is interested in playing what they consider to be essentially World of Warcraft on paper. I have to say I agree. However, though I cannot imagine 4e ever taking the place of 3.5 or even AD&D in my heart, I like to think that the game system is at least sound and fun to play. If anything, there may be an aspect of the game that my group wishes to adopt into our 3.5 game, and if so, then I say so much the better. I am long over my days of insisting that the immutable word of the PH must be adhered to rigorously and without exception.

My gaming group took a break from D&D last weekend for a session of Kill Doctor Lucky. If you haven't heard of it, then I strongly recommend you take a look at it. It is a humorous take on the game of Clue that imagines a reversal of roles for the players. Rather than investigators trying to discover who murdered Mr. Body, your goal is to corner Dr. Lucky in some quiet, sequestered part of the mansion and deal him his death blow with one of many unusual weapons scattered about the mansion floor (otherwise known as the draw deck).

Of late I have been trying to help acclimate my wife to the hobby by alternating D&D night with board game night. Board games are a bit easier for her to get into and good icebreakers. This is important because I think part of the difficulty of learning to be a gamer is getting introduced to new people and the culture. Our last game was Out of Context, a hilariously out-of-date game that has been wallowing on my shelf for ages. The board game session previous to that we played the acclaimed Settlers of Catan and its expansion, Seafarers of Catan. One of the pleasant side-effects of these bi-weekly diversions from our D&D game is the developing of my gaming palette. We have been making the attempt so far to try a new game each session. Two weeks from Friday we will be attempting a go at Illuminati, another out-of-date game that pokes fun at government conspiracy and spy stuff. We will see how that all goes, but a quick look-through last weekend indicated it could be a lot of fun.

airwalkrr