I've been debating on whether to say anything about this here, because it's kind of private, but I don't have a whole lot of readers and most of the ones I do have will go away as soon as they figure out that this isn't a gaming post. I need to get this out SOMEWHERE.
I work at a weekends-only camp for kids with terminal diseases-cancer, mostly, but we have all types here. I love working with the kids, and if it is a little depressing thinking of how many of them aren't going to make it, I try and make up for that with remembering that I'm brightening their lives.
This is my third year working at the camp, and honestly it's the only reason I came back to Tampa this year instead of doing summer school like most of my friends. The credit hours I get are nice, and as pediatric nursing is my chosen field I love the experience I get.
That's... that's not the problem part. The problem is with one of my campers. A little eight year old I'll call Kaylee. The first weekend I found her crying in her bunk and took her for a walk to cheer her up, and ever since, she's been my best friend among the kids. She has a heart defect, and before she got to camp she'd never really been allowed to run and play outside for fear of overexerting herself. She loves it, and she's always SO EXCITED to arrive Friday afternoon.
Saturday night she was feeling rather down so I took her for another walk before lights out. I remember the two of us leaving and laughing as we strolled into the woods, and then I remember her being on the ground and frantically calling everyone to help as I tried to keep her heart going. I wish I could remember what happened to give her problems.
She's in the hospital now, and she's in bad shape, but she'll last a while longer. It got her bumped up the transplant list, which is good, if scary. I went to see her this morning, and she seemed terrified. Wouldn't talk about what happened, said she didn't want to go back to camp. It's probably nothing-odds are high she hallucinated when she went down due to a lack of oxygen to the brain. If it were something scary, it would explain everything.
But still. I worry. It just doesn't feel quite right, and I don't know why
Showing posts with label not like anyone's reading anyway. Show all posts
Showing posts with label not like anyone's reading anyway. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Going As Planned
Planning and prop making is going well, if perhaps a bit more expensively than I would have liked. It's a good thing I've been working at the camp all summer, otherwise this would completely destroy my budget. It's worth it, though, to know that I've really gone full out for this. I'm really excited and I know my players are going to have a blast.
And yes, I actually have players for certain! The emails are coming in now, so far I have four. Two veterans, two newbies, but it's a new system so everyone starts on even footing. There's still plenty of time before game so I'm hoping I'll have at least double that.
Anyway, lots to do getting ready to leave town in a few weeks and also go work the camp this weekend.
And yes, I actually have players for certain! The emails are coming in now, so far I have four. Two veterans, two newbies, but it's a new system so everyone starts on even footing. There's still plenty of time before game so I'm hoping I'll have at least double that.
Anyway, lots to do getting ready to leave town in a few weeks and also go work the camp this weekend.
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Work, work, work
Been hard at work making props and plans and such for the Slenderverse LARP, which is why I haven't been around much. Damon and I have never hosted an event like this, and while we have the experience to make it amazing, we're still both nervous and determined to make it especially good, to prove ourselves.
Any of you silent readers who follow me while waiting for the game, know that we've got some amazing things planned for all of you.
And Damon, I know you're reading this. Stop being a lurker bastard. Comments would be appreciated.
Any of you silent readers who follow me while waiting for the game, know that we've got some amazing things planned for all of you.
And Damon, I know you're reading this. Stop being a lurker bastard. Comments would be appreciated.
Monday, July 11, 2011
Okay, So, I've Been Busy...
Sorry about last week. Things have been going a little nuts here. Getting ready to move back to school in a month, and as always, I forget how much there is to be done.
I'm thinking I'm going to leave the reviews as they stand. Maybe at some point I'll come back to it, but for now I'm just going to work on my newest project. One last hurrah before the summer ends and I go back to finish my degree.
My new project is working on combining all of my recent interests. I've been working on making a Slenderverse LARP/tabletop system. Last week I spent largely pouring through the Call of Cthulhu larp system and Mind's Eye Theater (which is the World of Darkness larp variant) for ideas. As of now, I have a rough ruleset in mind for the LARP, at least. I'm having a hard time picturing this as a sit down game for now, it seems like something that should involve running about and investigating and getting chased through the woods or something.
To that end, with a tentative rulebook settled I'm working on putting together a basic plot. I'm hoping to get a group together to playtest it, see what needs changing. I don't really know a lot of LARPers, so I may have to open it to the public and take potluck. We'll see.
My new project is working on combining all of my recent interests. I've been working on making a Slenderverse LARP/tabletop system. Last week I spent largely pouring through the Call of Cthulhu larp system and Mind's Eye Theater (which is the World of Darkness larp variant) for ideas. As of now, I have a rough ruleset in mind for the LARP, at least. I'm having a hard time picturing this as a sit down game for now, it seems like something that should involve running about and investigating and getting chased through the woods or something.
To that end, with a tentative rulebook settled I'm working on putting together a basic plot. I'm hoping to get a group together to playtest it, see what needs changing. I don't really know a lot of LARPers, so I may have to open it to the public and take potluck. We'll see.
Monday, July 4, 2011
I'm an Idiot
Sorry to scare any of you watching this. Last week was a little test. I wanted to see if I could pull off writing a slenderblog. The answer is no, I'm thinking, so I'm going to go back to my normal reviews. Starting Wednesday.
Sorry for the insanity. I didn't mean to scare anyone.
Maybe if I tell them it's a lie I'll start to believe it.
Sorry for the insanity. I didn't mean to scare anyone.
Maybe if I tell them it's a lie I'll start to believe it.
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
The Rules
Right. Enough with the panicking. Apparently there's an eldrich horror on my tail that wants me to start doing... things for him. I have news for him. I'm not going. I don't hurt people and I don't help other people hurt them either. I'm not going.
In the spirit of that, I'm going to put up some rules of horror to remind myself and enlighten you all. Maybe taking some control of the situation will make the whispering GO AWAY.
First. Avoid basements, cornfields, small towns in the middle of nowhere that you've never been to before, creepy woods, and abandoned houses. If you MUST go to any of these places, make sure to bring friends, stay close together, and don't stay after dark for any reason. Particularly relevant to this is the small town and woods section of this. I don't want to run into any slendycults.
Second. While it is tempting to allow the situation to distance you from friends, family, and the rest of humanity, either make it a clean break and get the fuck out of there or stay close. Emotional distance without physical distance just puts them in more danger-because then you have the heartbreaking 'I never got to tell them I loved them' situation.
Third. Don't tempt fate. Seriously. Don't be that guy. You know the one. Don't say 'surely we must be safe HERE' or 'We can hold out till morning' or anything similar. The shit hits the fan immediately afterward. And everyone hates that guy for starting it.
Fourth. Remember. This is an eldrich horror. Do not be the idiot who rushes it with a sword. That always ends badly-for the swordsman.There is no fighting, hiding is iffy at best, you have to run. And keep running. Slendy doesn't give up the hunt.
...I'm going to start getting stuff together to run. I'm glad I have some money put away from working all year.
In the spirit of that, I'm going to put up some rules of horror to remind myself and enlighten you all. Maybe taking some control of the situation will make the whispering GO AWAY.
First. Avoid basements, cornfields, small towns in the middle of nowhere that you've never been to before, creepy woods, and abandoned houses. If you MUST go to any of these places, make sure to bring friends, stay close together, and don't stay after dark for any reason. Particularly relevant to this is the small town and woods section of this. I don't want to run into any slendycults.
Second. While it is tempting to allow the situation to distance you from friends, family, and the rest of humanity, either make it a clean break and get the fuck out of there or stay close. Emotional distance without physical distance just puts them in more danger-because then you have the heartbreaking 'I never got to tell them I loved them' situation.
Third. Don't tempt fate. Seriously. Don't be that guy. You know the one. Don't say 'surely we must be safe HERE' or 'We can hold out till morning' or anything similar. The shit hits the fan immediately afterward. And everyone hates that guy for starting it.
Fourth. Remember. This is an eldrich horror. Do not be the idiot who rushes it with a sword. That always ends badly-for the swordsman.There is no fighting, hiding is iffy at best, you have to run. And keep running. Slendy doesn't give up the hunt.
...I'm going to start getting stuff together to run. I'm glad I have some money put away from working all year.
Friday, June 24, 2011
DnD Week!: 4.0
Fourth edition has been highly debated since it came out, in the grand tradition of DnD fanboys and girls everywhere. Every edition isn't as good as the one which came before-especially for the first year or two.
hespeakstome
What fourth edition is best at is random encounters. It's a system that's MADE for one shots and minis-style battles, whatever it lacks in the rest of it's gameplay. If you're looking for good fighting fun, 4th edition might be just the system for you. If not, I'd give it a pass.
hespeakstome
What fourth edition is best at is random encounters. It's a system that's MADE for one shots and minis-style battles, whatever it lacks in the rest of it's gameplay. If you're looking for good fighting fun, 4th edition might be just the system for you. If not, I'd give it a pass.
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Monday, June 20, 2011
DnD week!: ADnD/2.0
Think back to the old cliches of unwashed teenaged boys playing DnD in their basement with vague costumes. This was back in the days where DnD was still complicated and confusing enough to feel like an exclusive club.
Back when THACO was the order of the day and you couldn't play monsters.
This, ladies and gents, is exactly what they would have been playing. ADnD has survived to this day as a game people play, despite three editions afterward-an honor which First ed and third ed never achieved. It's got a different feel to it,
Back when THACO was the order of the day and you couldn't play monsters.
This, ladies and gents, is exactly what they would have been playing. ADnD has survived to this day as a game people play, despite three editions afterward-an honor which First ed and third ed never achieved. It's got a different feel to it,
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Forum Games
For a slight change of pace, and also because I've almost missed my update again and I don't have time to make this a normal critique, I want to talk to you about forum roleplaying. The kind where there's no dice, just a bunch of people writing characters together on forums. I have a great love for this type of roleplaying, I've honestly been doing it for half my life and I love seeing a story come together.
Reading the blogs made me start thinking about it, as the blogs are a very similar type of thing in that you make a character and interact with others IC. It's just a bit bigger, with the blogging and the email and the commenting and sometimes even IMs and such.
But I'm not talking about the blogs here, that's not what I'm here to do at all, no matter how fun they are. I'm here to talk about Forum Roleplaying. Just a few things a tabletop roleplayer needs to know if they want to try it out.
First, fights. As a tabletop gamer, mostly combat is something you expect on a regular basis-though how often that is depends on a lot of things. Many a tabletop gamer has crossed to forum land and been thrown by the lack of combat. Forum RPing, unless otherwise stated, tends to avoid combat because it's messy to deal with via writing and honestly the majority of forum RPs are in settings where fighting would be rare anyway.
If you DO get into a fight, be courteous. Do not assume your strikes hit, and do not dodge everything they throw your way. Just because there's no dice being rolled does not make you an unstoppable god at combat. Unless you have a really good reason for completely trouncing someone, you probably won't, so take that into consideration.
Secondly, sex. Depending on the forum, there's a chance you can sleep with other characters. If this is a mature forum, you might even be able to play out an explicit sex scene. Don't be a dick who just goes around looking for sex. Seriously. Just like in the real world, if you just walk around wanting to bang, no one will want to have anything to do with you.
Thirdly, interactions. I don't know your tabletop style, but what I do know is that there are a surprisingly large number of tabletop players that get by on glaring about and looking mysterious, occasionally offering threats or suggestions. DO NOT DO THIS ON A FORUM. You need a solid, three dimensional character. One that will interact with other players, and do so in a way that adds something to the story.
Fourth, and this would be first if I didn't have the vain hope that you would all already know this one, grammar. If you cannot write using the basics of good spelling and grammar, get the heck off of the internet and go back to third grade. Seriously, guys. My little cousin writes better than some of these idiots. And she's twelve. If you need to, run it through a spell checker before you post. It's easy and makes a huge difference.
As a side note, and this is just me ranting, not part of the critique, but I'm getting kind of irritated with how jumpy I've gotten reading this Slenderman stuff. I'm going to start laying off, I think, see if it helps. I don't like losing sleep over this.
Back on Friday, with another, hopefully more normal update.
Reading the blogs made me start thinking about it, as the blogs are a very similar type of thing in that you make a character and interact with others IC. It's just a bit bigger, with the blogging and the email and the commenting and sometimes even IMs and such.
But I'm not talking about the blogs here, that's not what I'm here to do at all, no matter how fun they are. I'm here to talk about Forum Roleplaying. Just a few things a tabletop roleplayer needs to know if they want to try it out.
First, fights. As a tabletop gamer, mostly combat is something you expect on a regular basis-though how often that is depends on a lot of things. Many a tabletop gamer has crossed to forum land and been thrown by the lack of combat. Forum RPing, unless otherwise stated, tends to avoid combat because it's messy to deal with via writing and honestly the majority of forum RPs are in settings where fighting would be rare anyway.
If you DO get into a fight, be courteous. Do not assume your strikes hit, and do not dodge everything they throw your way. Just because there's no dice being rolled does not make you an unstoppable god at combat. Unless you have a really good reason for completely trouncing someone, you probably won't, so take that into consideration.
Secondly, sex. Depending on the forum, there's a chance you can sleep with other characters. If this is a mature forum, you might even be able to play out an explicit sex scene. Don't be a dick who just goes around looking for sex. Seriously. Just like in the real world, if you just walk around wanting to bang, no one will want to have anything to do with you.
Thirdly, interactions. I don't know your tabletop style, but what I do know is that there are a surprisingly large number of tabletop players that get by on glaring about and looking mysterious, occasionally offering threats or suggestions. DO NOT DO THIS ON A FORUM. You need a solid, three dimensional character. One that will interact with other players, and do so in a way that adds something to the story.
Fourth, and this would be first if I didn't have the vain hope that you would all already know this one, grammar. If you cannot write using the basics of good spelling and grammar, get the heck off of the internet and go back to third grade. Seriously, guys. My little cousin writes better than some of these idiots. And she's twelve. If you need to, run it through a spell checker before you post. It's easy and makes a huge difference.
As a side note, and this is just me ranting, not part of the critique, but I'm getting kind of irritated with how jumpy I've gotten reading this Slenderman stuff. I'm going to start laying off, I think, see if it helps. I don't like losing sleep over this.
Back on Friday, with another, hopefully more normal update.
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