I had a feeling that movie would be cheesy but entertaining. I'll try and watch it this upcoming week while the wife's out of town (again! rough couple weeks).

OK Pump, if you are out next week, then let's try to find an evening the following week. I think I'm pretty free all of those nights so whatever works for people would be fine.

Anyone else interested in playing? There are two more characters available as PDFs on the FFG site now that I've got the four mains snail mailed out.

Is "kraken!" Russian for Cthulhu?  Cause that would be awsome!

I actually like Chronicles more than Pitch Black.  Mostly because they do try some world building.  It's cheesy, but good popcorn fun.  And I'm totally sold when the bad guys are called Necromongers.

Rude's right, look up the in-game store for free stuff.  Xp boost for an hour is great.  I think it's an 8 hour cool down?  Mine stopped working though.  I must have hit some level/xp cap.

Got a post today with some Star Wars goodness.   Tentacle girl!!!  Maybe the GM knows me too well?  I'm just glad there isn't a slave dancer class.  I would be giving credence to all those socially maladjusted roleplayer stereotypes.

My schedule is crap right right now.  Apparently it's a yearly thing now were my summers are going to suck.  For sure next week I won't get home at a respectable hour, including the weekend.  July is looking doomed I fear.  Doomed!

Chronicle's of Riddick is actually not too bad. A little weird and confusing, like it's trying to be Dune but doesn't quite pull it off. Watch dat shit!

Secret Adventureres - did you guys notice the free items in the Item Store? Go to the item store, click on "claim items" and they have some free Steam-themed clothing, a drink item that boosts your XP for an hour or something, and a free pet cat that gives you bonus damage. Free shit!

Chronicles of Riddick is the one I haven't watched yet! It being the sequel to Pitch Black and all. Oh crap, you guys are in Secret World!

I got my star wars dude too! Friggen' nice character sheet, thanks! I'm a wookie! Everything my dude says will be: "aggrrttaaggrrttaaggrrttaaggrrtt!" :)


The next month and a half of Wed's we have parenting classes at the hospital, 7-9pm. :/


Secret World is rad! I'm super stoked on that game. The multiplayer part doesn't really effect me. I see some people tooting around but it's like a really fun single player game. My in-game name is Pliney. I got a magical blow job and now I too am in the Cthulhu zone. The quest stuff is a little wierd, as well as all the nutty skill stuff, but it's good fun.


We went to see The Conjuring. Pretty good horror flick. Don't think it's going to be the scariest thing like they advertise. It's creepy and has some good jumps, but I still get more freaked at found footage stuff, personally. It's pretty good though!

That Riddick movie looks cool. Did you see Chronicle's of Riddick? What sequel do you have on dvd?

OK, so I think Rude will be the ONLY other person remotely interested (maybe Pumpkin? no Milla Jovovich tho) but the new Riddick movie looks pretty okay! I still have to watch the (terrible-looking) first sequel that I've got on DVD.

Plus the movie comes out on our due date! Totally naming the kid Vin Diesel Riddick Actionteam if they come out the same day. Nickname: V-Dray.

Whoo! Are people up for either Tuesday or Wednesday next week? Otherwise, probably any night the following week would work. Probably looking at two short sessions for the beginner scenario maybe?

Check out the gameplay video for Monaco, which is on sale today. Weird-looking game, but fun, and supposed to be great co-op. Gonna try and try out some Secret World tonight.

| 41-Vex, Colonist Droid, reporting for duty!

Got my character in the mail and I'm ready to rock some SWRPG!

Secret World is fun!  Definitely a fairly high learning curve for the skill/ability wheel stuff, and the HUD and quests are a lil hard to wrap my head around, but I think I actually have a decent little build going.  Well, I'll likely look back and laugh at it, but for now I'm running Pistols/Elemental.  The pistols proc elemental focus and then when the ele is full, I drop two elemental attacks followed by a pistol finishing move.  I can handle the little stuff in one rotation and the bigger stuff in a few more.... now if I could only figure out how to heal...

Fun Cthulhu starting zone!  Kingsmouth (combination of Kingsport and Innsmouth - amusing!)

| Surprise, I am still alive!

As much as I wold love to join you two jokers, I have the previous three work days off for an LA trip. I won't be able to swing taking the dayy off on the 29th & 30th. Booo eNron is the blurstest!

Note to self, Cthulhu manifested himself in our dimension recently, but the gate must have been too unstable and collapsed before he could break through in his full form. Whew, this was close. Make sure to watch past 0:33



I have learned to close my eyes and steer clear of Steam during sales. I still have dozens of games I haven't even cracked. Plus, it took me how long to shake Minecraft, Borderlands and other similarly addictive games? Probably best to keep my hands out of the new game crack pipe for a while.

eLzar, I am very sorry to hear about your wife's cousin. That is awful. It always bums me out the most when parents with young children do such things... Senseless.

fArt, that is really shitty about the house. I cannot imagine going through that type of stress. I hope everything goes well for the transition. Hang tight.

On the upside, the special lady friend and I are going backpacking this weekend up in Point Reyes. Looking forward to some hiking and getting away to some greenery. I am going to try some wide field astrophotography if the skies are clear (Point Reyes is often foggy) and I can get my ass up at 3am in the morning for the moon to set. A big couple of ifs.

D>M>

I'll fly up those days to make a movie about us playing games in Enron's office building. It will be Cinema Verde with pinto beans and rice.

PS - Bought secret adventures - when the 40 fuckin gigs finishes downloading, I'll be eligible for the senor menu at Denny's! Wocka Wacka Wawk-ah!?

As chance would have it I have BOTH those days off already. We were planning to go on vacation but it didn't work out. So pencil in one or the other for a trip to lovely WC!

Can't go any darker than pencil for now, things are a little fluid right now due to some family stuff, but there's at least a strong chance.

Possibility 2: Aaron calls in sick as well. Then we play games in his office building. LOL

| 29th and 30th off

I'm tentatively taking Monday and Tuesday the 29th and 30th off.  I need a little break from work.  My plan is to seriously eff around, possibly start some project in the backyard, but more than likely sit around in my boxers, eat tacos and play The Secret World.

Unless of course I could coerce anyone else to take those days off, then we could get something cookin'!  Like maybe BOTH of us sit around in our boxers and play The Secret World in our respective homes and never group up online or anything!  Sounds rad!

| Dragon, FTW

Illuminati are a bunch of coked out, marketing douchebags.  Haven't tried Templars, but their female members appear to enjoy sticking their cho-chas in the camera fairly often.

Dragon is pretty interesting.  They are all about data collection and controlled chaos theory.  I like the idea :)

I hear if you join the illuminati you get to hear some unreleased Tupac tracks!

Don't you have to join a group like Illumaniti or Templars? Which one are you guys?

| The Secret World: Review

Fun!  Different enough from WoW that I'm bugged by it, but once I get over that, it's fun!  There is lots of voice acting, lots of attention to detail, neat ideas, but the quests are a little hard to follow at first.  I am getting it and look forward to my first investigation quest!

Pumpkin and I are in the Cerberus dimension, and his toon is named Redochre and mine is Alzar (not that we have played together, nor would I know even how to do that.)

| Review: Orange Is the New Black Episode 1 (Netflix Original Series)

Topless Laura Prepon at 00:16.

| bachelor jr0n

OK, not bachelor exactly, I've got the kid with me. But she's asleep so it's party time!

Main course: pizza
Side dish: wings
Downloading: Secret World, Dark Souls
Plans for after dinner: Read RPGs

Yeah!

| Steam(ing pile of rubble that was my wallet)

The Secret World might just get me....

I like the real world setting, and the Illuminati, and it looks like Cthulhu is in there too, and that its free to play (does that mean IAP?)

So that makes two of us, anyone else in? :)

PS Yes, Alan wake is worth every one of the pennies you will pay for that game, if nothing else than for the Night Springs TV show episodes you get to watch throughout the game.  Do it!

Steam kicked my butt soemthing awreful.  Picked up a bunch of Borderlands 2 expansions.  Also got some random games that I will never install or play, but sure looked interesting at 3 am in the morning.

I've been actually playing The Secret World.  It's died down a bit for me (mostly because of all the work overtime).  It's got some charms.  I like the pick your own skills system vs a regular level system.  If you don't know what you're doing (like me), you end up picking up skills that don't compliment each other and have the hardest time killing even the trashbags.

Character appearance isn't tied to equipment.  So if you like dressing up, then this is the place for you.  Though I suppose if you really, really like dressing up, you'd be in Second Life.  Unfortunately gender role oppression is enforced.  Boo!  No Evening gown/opera gloves combo for my two pistol guy.

Some of the investigation quests are pretty interesting too.  There is an ingame web browser (a real one) where you do research.  Unfortunately I don't have the time to spend doing the legwork (a man needs to earn them xp points!).  I end up going to the spoiler sites instead of their carefully crafted faux sites that give the clues.  I feel like the jerk that reads the D&D module before the DM runs the adventure.

Alan Wake is cool. Played the first one on xbox. Haven't played any of the expansion stuff or sequely kinds of things if they exist. Typical surival horror, linear but it was a fun story from what I remember.

Some good Steam sales! System Shock 2 -- I'm tempted to pick that one up. Mark of the Ninja is lots of fun and for $3.50 a great deal. I'm kind of tempted by the Secret World, but eh... I don't really have time for an MMO and I've always got Guild Wars 2 to go back to if I do. Anyone played Alan Wake?

Hey Ry!

Fun iPad games I've been enjoying are:

Warhammer Quest - fun.

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic - the old RPG just came out for ipad- currently on sale for $5 bucks.

Mystery Room - fun puzzle/adventure game - first couple episodes are free.

Walking Dead - adventure game - first episode's free.

Star Wars Angry Birds is free right now too - it's a good one.

If you ever liked Magic the Gathering, the 2014 version is out. Base is free, I think you pay to unlock different modes.

You just missed a bunch of shit on sale for Apple's 5th year anniversary. I dunno, rock on! I play tons of board games on the iOS. Dunno if you'd be into that, but my current faves are Ascension, Agricola, and Lost Cities.

This morning I fired up my PSP Blood Bowl game.  Fun!  I'd be interested in an online league for that if it is possible without a cool gaming computer.

Aside from Plants Vs. Zombies II coming out on Thursday (for which my wife-to-be is more excited than I am), are there any good iOS games that I should check out?  I don't mind paying for them.

Hope everyone is good.  I just got back from a quick trip to LA to visit my sis, Tater-Tot, and their two kids, and see the rest of my fam.  This is the first summer since I was in 9th grade that I haven't had to teach swimming, teach summer school, or play or coach polo or swimming.  It is weird.  I planned on reading more, but I have only gotten through the new Dan Brown novel, which is shite.

When I was home, my mom hooked me up with some photos that I guess I took in the last days of my senior year.  They not only include some classic iAndy iFeltz shots, but also some shots of many of us at La Vista and some photos of the Hidden Shrine of the Happy Barth.  Pretty rad.  As soon as I scan those in, I'll post them, and I realize that those will only be interesting to a small few of us.

FYI, I read the blog every day, even though I don't write all that often.  I really appreciate Eric (and whoever else may be responsible) for keeping this going.  No homo.

Eric, sorry about Leslie's cousin.  That is fucked.

| WFRP and Blood Bowl

Historically, jr0n was one of my biggest opponents against playing either of these two games, going so far as to incite negative press in the form of the Blood Bowl Hell comic and endless jokes about rat-catchers....

Fast forward, and jr0n has participated in a Blood Bowl LEAGUE and has RUN a WFRP campaign!

And I participated in neither of them.

Bitter? Nah.

Heroin? Maybe.

On to Star Wars!  (Although realizing that WFRP uses the same kewl narrative dice sort of makes me want to pick that $100 starter up and start fantasizing....)

Glad you like it! Yeah, the way success/failure and advantage/disadvantage interact was lots of fun in play in WFRP. There are also mechanical ways to spend those dice if you don't have the creative inspiration at the moment too. I'm reading the book right now in my cube. NERD!

I'll send out the pregen character sheets. I believe I still need Aeryk and Rude's updated addresses. Enr0n got my dice so I think Rude will have to use standard dice and a conversion chart.

| Star Wars RPGin'

Got me some core rulebook in the mail today, and it looks RAD!

The book itself is gorgeous, and I've only read the dice pool rules so far and I really see some fun, fun potential with how narrative is baked right into the dice rolling.  In short, you roll dice, count the successes which are countered by failures, but then the degrees of each are modified by threat or advantage dice as well which means you can have positive failures and negative successes.  Using a simple blaster battle example, I see it as the following:

Success with high advantage: You hit your target critically, and his corpse falls in the way of the blast doors closing, allowing for your escape.
Success with low advantage: You hit your target critically OR you hit your target and find some cover.
Success, no threat/advantage: You hit your target.
Success with low threat:  You hit your target, but have run out of ammo.
Success with high threat: You hit your target, but also damaged the blast door controls which have closed and separated your party.

And of course some thematic way to interpret Failure.  It really sounds fun and allows for everyone to get on-board with adding to the adventure and the story of the game through the mechanic of simple dicing.  I'm only 14 pages into the book and am SUPER excited!

Yeah, that's friggen brutal. 20 years old is WAY too young. Then, add the 3 year old for bonus tragedy. When I was 20 I think I was still going to punk shows with JP. There's so much living to do and it's heart breaking when addiction fucks that all up for people and their families.

Ugh, that is rough for the kid. I hope she has a functional parent left. That's really tough.

| Also, Heroin

So the fall was a cover.  It was heroin.  I had a feeling...

No less tragic for her daughter, and now there is a healthy dose of anger mixed in.

Be extra-special good to your people so they don't feel like heroin might be a good thing to try.

| A brief solemn note, then continue with shennanigans

No need to respond to this, no need to comment, no need to derail any discussions about jorbs or Star Wars, but I needed to just write something.

This weekend we attended a multi-day memorial service for Leslie's grandma.  Almost all of her mother's side of the family was there, so like 25 people I think?  Anyway, it was a good weekend, lots of family events, laffs, food, etc.

Found out this morning that after the family all separated and went their different ways, one of the cousins (20 year old with a 3 year old daughter) after getting home from the trip, went to some hotel party with her friends, fell, hit her head, and died last night.  Senseless, tragic, and bizarre.

Just be good to your people today, and everyday.  That is all.

Now back to our regularly scheduled, text-based debauchery.

| Dunwich Horror

Count me in! (For what? Exactly.)

| Because THAT'S HOW EXCITED I am about Star Wars!

Also, video game kickstarters don't really get me that excited I guess? There's less ZOMG factor in receiving a digital package of bits. But yeah, a turn based version of WM would obviously be pretty cool - I threw in for the game and a sculpt.

| Blog, sans baby-batter

How have you Whoremachine fanboys not blown your virtual wads all over the blog-o-sphere about this Warmachine Tactics Kickstarter?

Oh, and does anyone else have a hard-on for the Pathfinder Card Game like I do?

| GM screen? Dayamn, you're one up on me then! (edit: jorb)

Nice! As long as I got Aeryk to spend money, everybody's a winner. PLUS, I think that thing has an adventure in it.

Here's what I was going to propose: I have the beginner's box set which has four pregens and a beginner adventure. I assume enr0n, Aeryk, Rude and Pumpkin "want" to play, so I'm just going to pick a character for everyone and mail 'em out! I just need people to text me their latest addresses. If anyone else wants to jump in there are other characters available too! Then we can just get together and play in a couple weeks. (2 weeks from Monday, maybe?) Then, after everybody has the GREATEST time ever and wants to keep going, the pregens can all die in a horrible Sarlacc incident and we can make new characters!

It's the best plan ever in my mind!

| You, Sir, Are Mistaken (Jorb)

I have in fact ordered the hardback, the dice, AND the GM screen.  To what end?  None!  That's what.

Nah, just kidding.  I'm really looking forward to our one-on-one Skype video call games, Jr0n.  I think they will both not be awkward nor unsettling.

Here's to playing our first game in less than 12 parsecs!

PS XCom, Borderlands 2, Surgeon Simulator (funny!), and Fallout: New Vegas are MINE.

PPS I've started playing a ton of Pokemon with Wylie, and it's actually not a bad game!  He can't quite hold the cards (he's using Unky Ry's plastic card holder - thanks Unky!), and he sometimes forgets to read all the text on the cards, but he is using his brain and has come up with some genuine CCG 'moves' in some of our games!  Keeps me with high hopes that he'll fall deeper into nerd-dom and thereby not get any girls pregnant until at least 30.

| Pacific Rim (Jorb) - yes, I literally stole the exact joke

I've been really curious about that one. Sounds about like I expected. Usually GDT movies fall squarely in "B-" territory for me (with my favorite being Blade II). The wife's out of town on business and the grandparents are going to be helping my with child care, so maybe I can sneak out and catch it at the local bijou!

More Steam sale shenanigans. All of Fallout New Vegas for 4.99? Sure, I've been meaning to play that one. It'll be a good one once I finish up Dishonored (which is awesome btw). Another one to look out for on sale is Monaco. Really weird/interesting heist game that looks like it will be a lot of fun multiplayer.

I see nobody has jumped on board my Star Wars idea, so I am preparing to take drastic measures. You have been warned.

| Pacific Rim (Jorb)

We saw Pacific Rim last night and it was pretty great. It's not the BEST movie I've ever seen, but it was about as awesome as I'd expect. Guillermo Del Toro is an awesome director and while this isn't exactly as weird as most of his shit, he still brings a ton of heart and creativity to the flick. If this had been done by Michael Bay, it would have been the worst, you just know. So yeah, was lots of fun. Didn't see it in 3D because I read that it's not Avatar-levels of 3D awesome and the 3D was done afterwards anyways. Stay through the first part of the credits - apparently there's an amazing little scene after. I had to pee so bad, I missed it.

Glad to hear things are on the upswing, Art!