Well, it's been a while since I've posted anything. I've been pretty busy at work lately.

The demolition derby I went to on the 4th was a blast. No fires or total flips but one car did back up onto the front of another car and was spinning out on it's engine right in front of us so that was cool.

I'm still playing Hellgate London here and there. There is a crazy scientist type of guy and his little engineer henchman a little way into the game that are hilarious. I won't say too much about them but "it's raping my face with evil" is pretty darn funny.

We played some 4th edition last night. We're in the Keep on the Shadowfell and we had some pretty cool fights. I don't want to spoil it for anybody though so I won't give details. I'm playing an Eladrin Wizard named Garanthius Darklore. He's very concerned about keeping himself clean and so, of course, the rest of the players make fun of his fruityness.

One thing that is kind of frustrating is I suck at rolling dice as a player. It's hard to be a "controller" when you do a scorching blast on 5 minions and only hit 1. That's with a 20 Int and a wand +1.

What's odd is that as a DM, I roll really high so I often fudge a little bit so the party doesn't get slaughtered just because of my rolls.

I need to find a way to convince myself that I'm a DM when I'm actually a player. So if you know any tricks on how to do that, let me know.

Well, I'm heading home now. Going to play some more Hellgate London. Cya.

Malakye

I've been without a pc game to play for a few days, so yesterday me and a friend decided to pick up Hellgate London. It was only $20 at Best Buy.

We made up characters and played for a couple of hours last night and I have to say it is pretty dang fun. It's kind of a futuristic techno/magic diablo style game which means it's light on story and heavy on the monster slaying/loot grabbing goodness. I'm not sure how long it will keep us entertained but for now it's a good way to pass the time.

It is free to play online but they do have a subscribe option that is about $10 a month, I believe, and gives you access to a bunch of stuff they've added to the game. We're just playing for free right now but we'll think about subscribing for a month or two if it remains fun.

I'm really excited for tomorrow. I'm going to a demolition derby with a few friends. There aren't many things one can experience in this life that are as enjoyable as watching a bunch of old crappy cars slam into each other and occasionally start on fire. Good times.

I'm guessing I won't be posting anything again until Sunday (I work Sunday through Thursday) but I'll be sure to let you know how the derby was and possibly some more thoughts about Hellgate London.

Malakye

This blog post is brought to you by the letter "why in the hell did I wake up at 3:30am and not be able to fall back asleep!"

Well, my 4E books should finally be here on Monday.

I pre-ordered from Amazon in February and I'm only getting them a month late...

Oh well, the price was right.

I've already read all the books since my friends all have theirs but it will be nice to have my own.

For those who may feel inclined to discuss ordering online vs. getting them locally, here is my perspective.

We only have 1 real gaming store here in Fargo (the other went out of business recently). The one that is left does most of their business in CCG's and comics.
It's an ok store and the people are generally nice but I don't go there all that often.
I have a group of friends that I play with (a coupled I've gamed with since Jr. High and I'm 30 years old) and we have ample room in our houses to play.
It would be sad if they went out of business but really it wouldn't affect me all that much.

I'm a husband and father of 2 kids. Gas prices are insane. I have a lot of gaming interests (DnD, PC games, Magic, DnD minis) and those all cost money. I like to hunt, fish and go camping which also require money. Sometimes I actually make it out to a movie, the races (at least I would if they weren't cancelled due to rain every time I've tried to go) and that all costs money.
In other words, I need to save money where I can, so price definitely outweighs any sort of local game store loyalty.

Well, it's 4am here so I should try to get back to sleep.

Malakye

Hello Internets! Greetings ENWorld, old friend.

None of you know me but I've been hanging around this place, mostly lurking, since before 3E launched.
This is probably the first place I ever posted on a forum and now is the first place I've ever made a blog. Or Blogged, engaged myself in blogging.. See, I'm not even sure what to call it.

Anyway, I'm currently bored at work. I try to spend as much time thinking about the campaign I will start when the 4E FR books come out but without knowing all the changes, I feel like I can't do a whole lot.

I know I don't have to use canon material, I never really have. But I would hate to write up a bunch of material and then find something really neat in the new books I want to use instead.

I guess I could then just file away the stuff I made for use later but I never seem to use the old stuff I keep. I always want to write something new.

I'm thinking I will have it based in Tethyr to start off and see where it goes from there.
All of the realms campaigns I've run before have been in the Dales or in Waterdeep so I'd like to go someplace else. I've been reading Lands of Intrigue to get some history and I think Tethyr has a lot of opportunities for all types of adventures (like most places in the realms, which is why I love the realms).

Speaking of the Realms, I want to give one piece of advice to anybody else running the Realms.

Never use the "Celebrity" NPC's.

The game is about the players, not npc's from a novel. Who cares what Drizzt's stats are. Who cares what spells Elminster has prepared. I love those characters and the stories around them but DnD is about the story of your pc's, not npc's.

To me, running the Realms is about having a world with a grand history and exotic locations to explore. Evil power groups, cults of the dark gods and monster infested ruins. It's about a living, breathing world where there is adventure around every corner.

Read the novels as novels (not as a straightjacket that you have to abide by).
Read the sourcebooks as inspiration and then make the realms your own.

Ok, that's probably enough from me. I'll get off my soapbox and go back to lurking on the forums. One more hour and I get to go home! woohoo

Malakye