Well Ministry last night was a bunch of fun. Got to catch up with a load of folk I’ve not seen in an age which was great and generally have a good night out.
As for Ministry themselves, well the best I can say is that they looked and played tired. Me and Nice Andy left about 10 mins early, that’s how bored I was.
Update: attack-monkey goes into much more detail over on his LJ
So who out of you lot can I expect to bump into tonight?
Been awhile since I’ve posted here properly. I think shorter posts should do it. If I’ve got time to post comments I’ve got time to post here 😉
Evie’s 1st Birthday party was lovely and it was nice to catch up with folk who came (even the knife fighting Foz brothers 🙂 )
Been sick. sick and sick again. A similar cold to the one I had over XMAS. I joke that I was besieged by Evil Snot Goblins. Well over the last week I had to cough them up, one at a time YICK! Almost lost the will to live, was unpleasant to live with (sorry Rach 🙁 ) which made me realise that if I ever got any proper illness I would be truely awful. More or less over it now.
Hearts in Glorantha and SimpleQuest coming along nicely. Currently having a crash course in InDesign which RAWKS!!
Rach got a Wii after months of pontificating. Its great. Rach videoed me playing with it, but you are never seeing that particular home movie (Titled ‘A fat man plays Wii’).
Had a nice Personal Development Review which confirmed that I’m settled in happily to my new role 🙂 Onwards and upwards they say.
My pc Monstro, which I have had for six years, crashed windows again. Its fixable but its time to move on. Getting a shiney new gaming machine from CyberPower . Monstro is going to live with my brother George which makes me happy since its a good machine that I’ve had allot of fun and use out and I would hate for it to go to land fill.
Well yesterday was interesting if only for one thing. UEFA cup in Manchester Rangers vs St Petersburg, a game which not being a footy fan I was blissfully unaware of until I got off the bus at Picadilly Gardens in Central Manchester at 9:30 and was hit by a tidal wave of blue shirted Rangers fans, most of whom had already started drinking. The reason why there were so many in Piccadilly was that it was one of three fanzones (Albert Sq and Cathedral Gardens being the others) set up with a large screen, a bar (with two petrol tankers full of Carlsburg) and festival style and scale portaloos.
Got over to my office on Oxford Road, and during the day you could here gangs of fans coming down the road into the city centre chanting and singing. A colleague summed it up, it was like Day of the Dead with Footie fans.
Walking across Picadilly at about 5:15 to get the bus home was amazing. I’ve never seen so many people in one place before except perhaps at some of the rock festivals I’ve been to in the past. My bus stop was moved about 2 mins walk out to the old station on Lever street, and it was quite intense walking through the generally well behaved fans (although one yahoo thoughtfully threw a crushed up can directly at me as I hit the fringes of the mass at Picadilly station). Even on the bus ride home the blue crowds didn’t go away until we were well down Oldham road almost into Newton Heath which is a good 5 miniutes out of the city centre.
Of course predictably that many people which that much alcohol, there was some rioting later on when the screen in Piccadilly Gardens failed. This article in the Independant online seems to give the best detail on the events – Manchester bears scars of UEFA violence.
This morning when I got in by the bus at 9 the clean up operation had just started. Piles of newspaper, cans and bottles everywhere right up to the shops along Oldham road and also along Portland street as well. Picadilly Square itself just reeks of stale lager and several of the bus stops are smashed up as well as some of the fencing around the fan zone. Won’t be surprised if they are still cleaning up when I go home at five.
Post a comment and I’ll answer this.
1. Tell you why I befriended you.
2. Associate you with something -fandom, a song, a colour, a photo, etc.
3. Tell you something I like about you.
4. Tell you a memory I have of you.bigdaz
5. Ask something I’ve always wanted to know about you.
6. Tell you my favourite user pic of yours.
7. In return, you must post this in your LJ
Our Eve is one today. Can hardly believe it…its been a life changing year in so many ways.
The First year of her life in pictures….
Gearing up for running games at conventions this year after the winter break. The following came out as a response to someone considering running a game for the first time at Furnace.
2. Scenario Notes. Have at least one page of notes. This need not be a blow by blow detail of the scenario, but it should be at least a set of cues for you and a framework that you can work within to keep the game on track. Similarly maps need not be artistic masterpieces, but a rough sketch/or description of the important aspects of an adventure location can be used as a starting point to expand upon in play. Have a cast list of important npcs, which at least gives them a credible name and their role in the scenario (I always think of Shakespear’s cast lists when drawing these up).
3. Be aware of time pressures. If you are running a game that you have previously run as a home game, make sure that you trim it down to fit the tighter con slot. Ramp up the important moments (i.e. fun) of that game, ditch the scenery chewing moments that only make sense to your home players and abandon the dull and pointless parts.
During the game
The Golden Rule
1. Relax and have fun, you are amongst friends. The players have signed up to play your game and are interested in playing. Even they tell you it was their second choice, don’t let that throw you. Take pride in the fact that they have chosen to play YOUR rather than mooch around at the bar.
Set up (First half hour of the game)
2. Give the players time to digest their characters and ask any questions about them. Also if a player is really uncomfortable about a detail about the character, consider letting them change it.
3. Resist the urge to explain the game system in great detail at this point. If the game system can be quickly explained by going through the character sheet all the better.
4. Schedule comfort breaks. For a four hour game I usually have at least one and a half hours into actual play. Be up front that you are going to have them and when you are scheduling them.
5. End the set up with a punchy intro to the scenario, that gets the action set up and the players ready to go and play!
During the game. (Two to three hours of game time)
6. Be ready to listen to the players and feed off their ideas. If the scenario is going in a different direction to the one and the players are enjoying it, go with it. Conversely if things are going wrong , you can usually tell by the frowns on the player’s faces, stop, assess with the players and redirect the game in the way that brings back the fun. Sometimes you might have to back track or plot edit (‘ok so that didn’t really happen’) , but there is no shame if this if it keeps everyone having fun. Remember it is as much the players game as yours.
7. Keep all the players involved in the game. Even the quiet ones, don’t let loud mouths dominate proceedings. While some players like just to sit back and take in what’s going on (like watching TV), this might be habitual (they might not be used to getting a say) or out of shyness. Encourage them to get stuck in, even if in the short term it takes them out of their comfort zone.
8. Keep the action flowing. Don’t let the players take to much time pondering what to do about that locked dungeon doors. Just when eyes are glazed and hands are twitching and you are about to describe the colour of the moss on the ceiling, bang those orcs on the other side come crashing through!
9. Know when to step back from the table. After an especially hectic scene of action let the players regroup and plan their next move. Sometimes I physically leave the table, taking the opportunity for a quick loo break or trip to the bar, when the players need to plot and plan unhindered by my presence.
Resolution (The last half to one hour of the game)
10.Make sure the game ends in clear and satisfactory manner for the players. Unlike a home game a con session must end in a definite manner with all lose ends tied up. As a GM you must be constantly gently guiding the players towards this point of the game. It helps if you get the players on your side by explaining during set-up and again 5-10 minutes before this ‘end phase’ that the game will wrap up decisively in the last half to one hour of the slot. Avoid ‘anti-climaxes’ and ‘pyrrhic victories’ (unless the whole tone and fun of the game has been driving this way) like the plague. Let each player’s character shine and have his/her moment of glory (or infamy).
…and one needs more tea.
Time to wake small one up and put the kettle on meethinks.
If weather holds up its out in the garden being Alan Titchmarsh! Time to see if our petrol lawnmower – Metallica – still works despite me not giving its end of season clean last Sept.
After much nonsense and faffing around on my part I am proud to say that the Furnace website is now up and going
If you’ve been before, you find lots more info about the con on the website, a flash flickr gallery embedded in the site and a new online registration system.
If you’ve not, there’s lots of info to show what a fun time we have and persuade you to come.
Visit http://rpgfurnace.com/ for more info
Last night started the great Windows reinstall, as WinXP yet again lost its settings on the desktop in the office and there was no way of repairing it. Grr. Saying this I’ve not lost much this time round since all family email is no on Gmail, all bookmarks are saved via Foxmarks on Firefox and I grabbed all my documents (mainly RPG writing) and the sacred family photos (4.5 GB of photos of mainly Eve) and put it on my 80GB Ipod using an Ubuntu Live CD. In fact I’d probably go Ubuntu with Wine , for my old games and apps, since the machine is 6 years old and the most cutting edge thing is 2 years old, except Rach isn’t sold on Ubuntu. Compare this with the Ubuntu laptop we use daily while lounging about down stairs in the lounge, that has never needed to be reinstalled in the year that I’ve had it and is a similiar spec and age to the desktop.
Bit of a pointless rant, seeing that I’ve reinstalled WinXP, but it does give me food for thought for the new machine I’m planning on getting this year.
UPDATE: By gumby. After reviewing the WIneHQ App database, I’m inspired to give it a go on my Ubuntu laptop!!