Rants and Raves

Rave: Crypt of the Everflame (minor spoliers)

feeds@yuku.com (Mr Fletch) — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 15:01:20 GMT

My group recently played through Paizo's new Pathfinder module, Crypt of the Everflame. I thought it was one of the best first level modules I've seen. The challenges start out small (and non-lethal) and slowly build to the climax (which could be quite lethal.) The various encounters are set up to teach the basic rule set, from dealing with traps (both lethal and non-lethal), to solving riddles, to using the Pathfinder grapple and disarm rules. I would...

Rave: I'm Going to be an Uncle!

feeds@yuku.com (durendal) — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 13:20:13 GMT

Got a message from my sister last night (she lives overseas), letting me know that early next year, I'm going to have a nephew. This is going to be pretty cool, methinks.

Rave: players new to D&D

feeds@yuku.com (dok) — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 12:53:10 GMT

In my current gaming group, two players are old-school veterans, while three are new to D&D. (but not to RPGs)

The satisfying bit about new players is that they're not automatically familiar with the D&D canon of monsters. OK, well, they're able to understand the European/Mediterranean fantasy creatures, the Tolkien clones, and the anthropomorphized animal-variants. But they're not well versed in the "bad 70's quasi-sci-fi" monsters (Beholders) or...

Rant: Universal Electronicz

feeds@yuku.com (Eldric IV) — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 19:04:50 GMT

I am taking my Pharmaceutical Calculations course self-study. The only in-class material is the final and the only calculator we can use is a TI-30. I own lots of calculators but not a TI-30. Even though they are cheap ($10-20), I do not want to spend money on a calculator when I already have seven. So, I go looking for the best deal on the TI-30 Multiview, the closest model to the graphing calculators I have used for the last 10 years. Google brings up UniversalElectronicz.com. The...

RANT: Job Fairs

feeds@yuku.com (dok) — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 09:55:16 GMT

I am unemployed, looking for work. My state's employment division notified me of a job fair, and since I'm getting pretty desperate, I went.

The Rundown
21 booths.
One booth was the state employment division, no job there.
Three were colleges offering degree programs, not jobs
Three more were staffing/temporary agencies, also not able to offer actual jobs.
The US Army was there with a recruitment booth....

Rave: Eddie Izzard, Marathon Runner

feeds@yuku.com (ILikeWizards) — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 03:59:19 GMT

Thought I'd post this here because of Monte's known fondness for Eddie:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/8256589.stm

That's pretty impressive, especially for someone who wasn't that fit.

Looking over 3E & 3.5, now that the dust has settled...

feeds@yuku.com (dok) — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 09:36:54 GMT

This isn't specifically a Rant or Rave, but a little of both, really. Now that 3.5 is officially over & done, I'd like to look over the rules as a whole, and offer my ever-so-humble opinions. Feel free to disagree, or to chime in with your own thoughts:

Good ideas, well implemented
*The Unified Game Mechanics: sweet FSM yes! The 'd20 system': roll one die, add bonuses, compare to target number. Explaining the...

Rave: Getting to be a Player

feeds@yuku.com (Mr Fletch) — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 06:21:48 GMT

Since the start of 3.x, I've solely been a DM. Last night was started a new campaign and I got to be a player for the first time in 15 years! Great! It was so much fun to a) win a combat and b) not know everything that was going to happen!

RANT - How administrations handle epidemic sickness

feeds@yuku.com (Ampherion) — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 20:46:43 GMT

WARNING: This is a post by a person who is currently experiencing the silent scream inside, and this post will most likely be extremely negative and unhappy. If you really don't need a downer, please feel free to skip it.

You know, I can't believe we have come this far as a race. After all this time and "learning" we still can't handle simple rational tactical decisions that make extreme difference in peoples lives. Incompetence abounds, and in the most...

Rave: RiffTrax Live - Plan 9 From Outer Space

feeds@yuku.com (Wiz of Ice) — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 08:15:59 GMT

Mike Nelson, Bill Corbett and Kevin Murphy were live in Nashville last night and broadcast via satellite elsewhere. They riffed on Ed Wood's Plan 9.

The pre-show was a surprise. They had a new short ("Flying Stewardess", from the mid-50s),...

Rant: D&D Tiny Adventures on Facebook.

feeds@yuku.com (dok) — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 16:24:35 GMT

I know that it's supposed to be simple, fun little free timewaster, but there's so much to hate, and so little to like about it. I'm sure the idea was to create a widget for Facebook that would promote D&D, and bring in new players and recruit older players that dropped out of the game one or more editions ago. But as marketing for D&D, it's EPIC FAIL.

Here are two sample encounters:

A gray wolf, a...

My girlfriend got me Ptolus!

feeds@yuku.com (Hydromaster113) — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 05:01:53 GMT

... Then she sprained her ankle horribly, and the following trip to the hospital put a bit of a damper on the evening. A pretty great birthday up until then, though.

The awesome thing (if I'm allowed to gush here, and I presume that I am) is that she had never heard me mention it when she ordered the book; but she knew I loved game books, she new I was a Cook fan, and she found out about his magnum opus...

Rave: New Players

feeds@yuku.com (SolissVL) — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 20:51:22 GMT

Today is a good day. One of my players recruited a new guy for our group.

Tonight was the first session together.

As our 4th could not make it, I just ran a 1 shot with pregened characters to get a feel for his style of play.

He hasn't played in years, but picked up on the rules pretty fast. He'll be playing a blaster wizard, which is great since our group has been needing an arcanist.

Later this month we should get in a session in our...

Rave: Penn & Teller

feeds@yuku.com (Mr Fletch) — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 16:00:11 GMT

My wife and I were in Vegas this weekend. We saw Penn & Teller's show for the first time since college. They are still great. They performed some old standards and had some new tricks as well. The "Red Ball" was a highlight, as was a version of "Miser's Dream" and the "Magic Bullet" finale. Penn did a great "cold read" trick. Highly recommended for anyone visiting the Las Vegas area.

Rave: Paizo's Pathfinder Chronicles Dungeon Denizens Revisited

feeds@yuku.com (Ampherion) — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 21:08:22 GMT

I can't say enough good things about this book so far, and I have only got through the buelette and cloaker so far!

Awesome binding awesomeness.

Rant: Solitaire on Windows Vista Home // Rave: Ozedge

feeds@yuku.com (PaRaLaX) — Tue, 26 May 2009 00:47:56 GMT

Whenever I want to close this program mid game it asks me whether I wish to save my current game.
No matter what I click, the next instance I start it again it asks if I want to continue my previous one. There is even a check box "Always save game upon exit" that I leave intentionally blank all the time but it just wouldn't listen. It's just p*** poor design imho and I've probably wasted 1000 clicks so far which is enough energy to get a starving puppy through...

Rant: Home Buying

feeds@yuku.com (MaxKaladin) — Thu, 21 May 2009 11:16:48 GMT

I'm trying to buy a house right now. Everyone tells me this is a buyers market and there will never be a better time to buy. If that's true, I weep to think of what this incredibly frustrating process is like when it isn't a "buyers market".

Everything good gets snapped up in hours or days at most or is overpriced with sellers who won't give any significant ground (which is why it doesn't sell quick). I keep hearing how the market sucks on other parts...

RAVE: Chessex

feeds@yuku.com (Useless Trivia Man) — Fri, 15 May 2009 13:23:24 GMT

Somehow I managed to misplace my Chessex megamat. (I have a sneaking suspicion that I accidentally left it on top of the car after one of the recent gaming sessions. Foolish me.) I'd heard that the single-sided battlemats were going away, but I took a peek at the Chessex website to see if any were still available. There are a few left, and they're even on sale!

I snagged a pair of megamats for only $15 each! The only (marginal) downside is that these mats have 1/4"...

RAVE: NPR

feeds@yuku.com (Mr Fletch) — Fri, 15 May 2009 08:18:47 GMT

I don't listen to NPR enough. Every time I turn it on in the car, there is some fascinating bit of information that is both intriguing and completely new to me. A few days ago it was a three minute segment on lost international luggage. Today it was an in-depth look at California's upcoming budget problems. I tend to skip over the NPR preset and listen to sports talk or music channels instead, but I really need to listen to more NPR.

Rave: my wife and children

feeds@yuku.com (PJSlavner) — Sun, 10 May 2009 06:02:57 GMT

Last week my wife decided to buy two baseball bats and new baseball gloves. Twice since she, our three children, and I have played baseball at a local park. It looks like it might become a weekly activity for us.

Two days ago I played Puerto Rico with my daughter and younger son. I was not sure they liked it, but yesterday my daughter asked to play again, so the three of us played again. I also played Race for the Galaxy (a favorite for all three children) with my younger son...