Author: john wick

From “The Prophesies of Uikku”

Doom of the Crab
“It will be the return of an ancient hero that marks their doom. He will destroy the Crab Clan and everything for which they have fought.”

Doom of the Crane
“A fallen foe will prove to be their undoing. They will be led astray by a deceiver, and the true hero will arise too late to save them.”

Doom of the Lion
“Blind faith in the Throne leaves you blind to the need of the Empire.”

Doom of the Phoenix
“The Tao of Shinsei is no guard against darkness. It is their pride that will blind them to their downfall.”

Doom of the Scorpion
“An act of honor will be their downfall. A moment of strength that is a moment of weakness… hiding behind a mask.”

Doom of the Ki-Rin
“When the great wind comes, it shall be the saplings that fall before the great trees with deep roots.”

Doom of the Dragon (the missing chapter, found in a scroll in Pheonix libraries)
“Those who live only in the moment cannot see the past nor the future.”

(originally posted in ‘s journal)

Regarding the debate last night. You know all the people who said people aren’t leaving the state?

Anecdotal evidence. In the last year, the people I’ve known who have left:

1) My folks
2) Three friends
3) One company I used to work for
4) By the end of the year, possibly me

I don’t care about California politics anymore. This is me officially throwing up my hands and quitting.

Saturday. It’s on.

The Coup begins at 3:00.
Some will arrive later than others.

We go until midnight.

Prepare your souls.
Make peace with your ancestors.
And bring your wakizashi.

Here ya go, my friend…

http://www.ebaumsworld.com/gijoe.html

Hi folks.

The scheduled Scorpion Coup — this Saturday — may face possible delay. E-mail me and let me know if you can make it on Sunday afternoon/evening instead.

Please read the “possible” again. It all depends on feedback from the players.

Thank you, you may return to your regularly scheduled program.

You know why Strength is both your to hit and damage roll in D&D?

I do.

Because if they made it Dexterity (the logical choice), ROGUES would KICK ASS all over FIGHTERS!!!

The game system trumps reality.

Thus endeth the lesson.

First things first: New Strongbad E-mail!
http://www.homestarrunner.com/sbemail85.html

Okay, so this weekend was a blast. I’m exausted, drained, and in all other ways completely in need of another weekend. The Friday party was pretty good… I could have had more fun, but my own hang-ups got in the way.

The Saturday Sabbat game was a lot of fun for me — not as much fun for others. Mr. Finger gets more XP! And my desire to run a troupe game becomes even stronger.

Sunday was spending the day in a slow journey north, back toward LA. We stopped off at a local game store — much nicer than the one I have to frequent here — and stopped off to say “Hi!” to ‘s parents. They were very sweet and gave us water for our trip. We got caught in seventeen different kinds of traffic, finally making it home around 7:00.

The L5R game was a riot. I got to show them Toturi and all his wacky notions of honor, glory, duty, Shinsei, and bushido. Not your typical samurai. I thought the Ikoma’s head was gonna explode. His treatment of the Scorpions was… unique. Welcome to Lion Lands. No, we don’t hope you stay. You can go home any day now. How about right now?

And, of course, in the morning, it all started. The Big Thing. The one thing that can kill every player in the game. I’m looking forward how they deal with it.

Three Days of Hell otherwise known as The Scorpion Coup. Not everyone will live, but everyone will die with honor.

And that’s what samurai drama is all about. I can’t wait.

I can bluff people. Or, shall I say, “the bluff” is valid tactic.

Nobody knows Mr. Finger’s generation. They don’t know his abilities, his traits. Nobody has access to a database where my character sheet is readily available for the download. Nobody knows my MC, so they don’t know how many points I start with, don’t know Mr. Finger’s potential.

They think he’s a Tzimicze… but that could be — wait for it — a bluff.

They can’t assume I’m a neonate, ancillae, or elder because my MC is tattooed to my forhead.

All too often people told me, “You can’t assume to walk in and be the boss, John. You have to earn your position.”

Last night, I started out in the same position as everybody else. The same position we all started in. And I was allowed to raise to my own level of ability.

In other words, I knew I could walk in and be the boss… and I earned it. Not because my MC told me I have the right to do so… but because I had the skill to do it.

To all my friends who came down to play: Thank you for making my night so much fun. , … you guys rock. and … I’m sorry I didn’t get to see more of you.

And we gave the shovel.
Hope it didn’t hurt too bad, little one.

(MR. FINGER: “Oh, yes we do.”)

I had plans to go dancing last night, and for once, I’m glad I didn’t ditch out of the party when I said I would. Not because the party was all that much fun — for reasons that shall remain my own for a moment, and they don’t have anything to do with the company I kept… oh — I’m being a jerk. Okay, I’ll get to it. Just hold on.

It was the Pirate/Neopets CG Release Party, and I honestly started off pretty happy. I had my hat and a big jolly roger cape. Everybody was getting drunk rather quickly… and I don’t enjoy the company of drunk people. I follow Socrates’s advice: Just enough wine to let philosophy happen. Just enough liquor so the inhibitions fall just a little, and people say what they really mean. What I don’t like is the incomprehensible drunk. Not slightly buzzed, not “ready for philosophy,” but the “I don’t know what I’m saying” drunk. Him (or her) and me don’t get along.

I planned on showing up for a few hours, then ditching out to ‘s gig. Unfortunately, Lady Fate showed up in the form of a co-worker who thought she could drive home. She really shouldn’t have driven herself, although, like most people in her condition, she thought she could. She kept telling everybody, “I’m okay, I’m okay…” and then passed out ten minutes after we started driving home. Fortunately, I was behind the wheel. If I wasn’t there, I’m pretty certain she would have driven home. Everybody else was toasted and not really standing up too tall. The rest of them were just as drunk as she was, and nobody could have driven her.

Then, when I got back, someone I didn’t recognize — but who had the look and stink of “frat boy” says, “Man, she was hot! Did you fuck her?” The subtext being that she was so drunk, she wouldn’t be able to say “No.” Ah… drunk date rape. Yes, that falls right into my character. Another reason I was glad I drove her home.

I miss out on dancing, but I save a life. Okay, I think that’s a worthy trade. Sorry, . Fate conspired again. Next time.

The other part of the party that got me weirded out was seeing my ex-wife’s sister. No, not her real sister, but it could have been her. She had the exact same eyes, the exact same smile… the hair was straight and the rest of the features were had a bit of that sharp Celtic look, but there she was. Kept me off-balance all night.

So, for a short while, I had some fun… but in general… there was just too much psychological crap going on for me to enjoy myself. But, I’m glad I went (for the aforementioned reasons) and I’m glad other people had fun.

But tonight… we will praise Lili — um, I mean Caine! Yes… Caine.
Getting ready for the San Diego Sabbat game. Oh baby…