Whispers in the Windstorm

OK, back to a rhythm. I'll post my half-completed description of New Year's sometime soon, but I should really get back into this rhythm of posting before the month is out.

( I went to a private game party and it ROCKED! )

The conversation was very enjoyable, and I have a few wonderful lines to remember that I'm not going to explain.

"NIIIINES!" (Said in an elated voice, hands raised overhead.)
"Cinnamon - again and again." (Said in a serious voice, while acquiring said commodity.)
"Wouldn't it be cool to have a house with a vegetarian dog and a plant that ate meat?"
"Hey, I know - you could get 'Grond' etched on it."
"No, I have no idea if Brother GERALD is innocent."
"SAY SOMETHING! You're in the room with us - CONVERSE!" (I know I mentioned it before, but it's still coool.)
"I gotta agree with you, Jeff. Sometimes I really don't know why more people don't hit me."
"Brother Spears, HOW can I help you? How can I shine the light of the divine upon your quest?"

I'll throw Brian a link to this - maybe he'll add stuff I forgot.

(Eat Snacky Smores - but maybe next week, though.)

VTES was pretty cool all around. I put together a new deck and it tested okay as a starting concept, with a few hiccups. Order:

1) Jeff - Nosferatu diablerist
2) Brian - Ventrue bleed with mods
3) Rich - Brujah multiple strike
4) Noel - Giovanni/Salubri and their Ally buddies

Rich and I took a lot of the damage, as we were mostly combat decks and Brian and Noel were mostly not. Rich fell first to Brian's bleeds, but Noel seemed to be playing excessively conservatively (for her, anyway) and I had a long time to put together cards. I also got to annoy her a lot with a 'look at a random card in your predator's hand' thing. Tee hee. Anyway, Noel had some combat-ends (not a lot, she reports) and a fair amount of stealth to avoid actual combat. So my minions and their slaying ways weren't quite so useful. Brian threw a bleed against Noel which she redirected to me, and I got into combat. Because A) I wanted to test the deck's theme at least ONCE, B) I knew I wouldn't get to play these cards against Noel and I wanted intercept to find her guys, and C) I knew with myself out, Brian had little to no chance against Noel, so I wanted the game to wrap up a little sooner than it might otherwise do, I wiped out Brian's vampire. He punched, I played Decapitate-Disarm-Amaranth and slurp! No more vampire. Brian was (somewhat understandably) perturbed by my sudden and quite extreme end of the combat - he pictured more of a punch-punch nicey-nicey. But I got killed within two turns of that, and Brian and Noel sparred for a bit to establish how the game would end. We talked for a bit, but it was raining outside, so as soon as we got out, we quickly parted (save one drive-by from R'n'N) and I drove home. Talked with Mom for a while, Packed until around 2 AMish, didn't play ANY of the Demons (sniff).

Eat Snacky Smores.

Ah, sweet all-nighters. Twice in the past three months, I have made the enormously wise choice not to go to sleep. I'm just too busy - or too lazy - sometimes to turn everything off and go to bed. But let us review Wednesday night, Thursday and Friday morning.

And by the way, I want to clarify that I am not getting tired of my journal or anything, just because I've only made serious entries on Monday, Wednesday and Friday for this week. I just got busy at work and Tuesday and Thursday evenings aren't terribly accessible to me. So I was forced to save 'em up for when I had time.

After work (which I stayed at until 6:30), I went home and talked with Myra, playing two games of Scrabble (1-1, with an awfully close second game). We watched the Red Sox beat the Yankees (Whooo-hooo!) and we talked for a while, then she went to bed. I'm not sure I remember when </a></b></a>lori came online, but we had QUITE the interesting and varied conversation, as she herself will tell you. I think I'm just rather good at offering a somewhat non-judgmental point of view sometimes, which is one of the best ways to elicit openness and communication. I think that, if I were any less opposed to alcohol, I'd be a pretty darn good bartender. Heck, maybe I actually would be - it's not like I would swipe any product or anything. :) But we traded a few good songs, a few good stories, and I concluded the conversation by cowing her into meek acceptance. ;P (Oh, and I wish to issue an official correction on behalf of my brother - his Doctor Who collection is flawlessly organized and stored. Pity I can't find what I need anyway - must be my ever-errant vision or something. Key to something, something Key... what was that again? Hmmm.)

Anyway, that particular conversation concluded around 3:30AM. After that, I played some MTGO, installed Lord of the Rings Online and looked at the spoilers for Shadows, and cleaned up my room a bit. But I checked the board at 4:30, literally just as I was considering taking a slight nap - and I see Garvey online! I soon am chatting away with him as well, providing welcome relief to his busy evening/morning working on school projects. His wife had sensibly gone to bed several hours ago, and while I'm not surprised she allowed him to remain awake to finish his work, I am surprised that she would permit such fancies as AIM to be left on during this vital crunch time. Go Gaja! (Even though your web page still refers to Matt as your fiance.) I'm still looking forward to the first pictures from your photography class. But Matt welcomed the relief I provided, and we spoke briefly. After that, I watched Galaxy Quest and began harvesting cards from my VTES collection for a deck design I wanted to put together for that evening's festivities. It's a nice anti-Toreador affair, but I'm missing a vampire for it. Rats. But I got out of the door reasonably on time. The drive to work and Thursday morning were a bit nerve-wracking, as I was actually suddenly quite tired. But as I got closer to lunch (which I had originally intended to nap through), I found myself gaining energy. And so when lunch got around, it felt natural to just go out and have Baja Fresh and read from Fanfare for the Area Man. (I'd get Democracy Inaction, but it's kind of pricey. Dunno.) After I came back - sigh - I got tired again for a while, but nothing too bad. Then, work is done! Yayyy! I drive down to Games Plus, saying hi along the way. Brian and Ernie are there, and </a></b></a>rich and </a></b></a>noel show up soon afterwards. The breakdown of the game:

A) Brian, playing Tremere. Go figure. This one is a standard Talaq-plays-Burst-of-Sunlight thing.
B) Rich, playing Brujah/Anti-Brujah extra strikes stuff. At least it's not extra strikes/AGG.
C) Noel, playing a vote deck. Yayyyyy. (Sigh.)
D) Ernie, playing Tzimisce. Not sure what he was doing - Noel is funny about not letting her prey do anything like what they were intending to do. They tend not to sit down to a game as to a short yet painful death.
E) Myself, playing anti-Ventrue and Salubri. I saw a Salubri hit the table, and it was cool doing stuff like Anesthetic Touch and Sight Beyond Sight and Repulsion. But it didn't go far enough. I think the next one I'll try for the scarce clans is True Brujah.

Only casualty was Ernie - between votes and bleeds, he didn't stand much of a chance. But after that, most of us had our stuff together enough to prevent more lawnmowing. I'm still somewhat surprised every time Noel thinks she's got the ENTIRE TABLE - three players' layouts, deck types, and hands - in her head, makes a big move, and gets surprised by ONE detail which screws it all up. I really don't think, when a game turns into a 3-on-1 situation (as a vote deck running the table is wont to do), that one person can really hope to take on three players and be successful. Perhaps as a straight bleed deck (though don't get me started on stealth/bleed) might be able to - but if you throw politics in the mix as well, not sure what can be done. And she gets SOOOOO mad about it, too. It really puts a damper on in-game chatter, which is quite a pity.

Anyway, afterwards, we went outside and watched Jon Stewart beat up the Crossfire hosts on Brian's laptop. (No, I'm not linking it. Just go Google "Jon Stewart Crossfire" and you'll find it.) Kind of funny - but then again, it was just more of the same. People have this weird feeling that the august Mr. Stewart 'destroyed' the hosts. But what kind of TV is Crossfire, anyway? All they want is argumentation and controversy. All they did in having Mr. Stewart there is temporarily appeal to a larger audience. They didn't learn anything from that - except maybe that getting themselves hit attracts ratings as much as having the guests get hit. Me, I just ignore the whole 'news' thing for the most part. NPR and the front pages of the Chicago papers is about it. And even NPR ain't perfect.

Drove home, chatted with Selyna again, though not nearly so long and wonderfully - as I was getting tired at long last. I cleaned off the bed (or at least the right side) and went to sleep. Luxuriant that it was, but brief.

Today's been pretty reasonable. Filled up two trash cans with page counting stuff, and I've got an hour to write material for Blood Loyalties and post to the Private Threads. I've been a little focused on ACD at the expense of my own game. Sorry, folks. Riding/driving with Dad tonight to Chris' place. Yayyy, Chris! (Even if you are an old fogy.)

Oh, and A) I caught up with page counting today, and B) I found the receipt for the book-on-tape I've been listening to! Woohoooo! I'm stopping at Barnes & Noble tonight to get a new one.

Eat Snacky Smores.

And all is right with the world - or at least, not badly screwed up, anyway.

Talked on the way home - everything's cool. My livejournal/blog continues to impress unnecessarily. :) Stopped in at Walgreens, and got tempted by the Uh-Oh Oreos (specifically, the inverse-video ones, golden cookie with chocolate creme). Picked those up as well as the classic Pringles for Gamers pack. I wish the Oreos had been more popular - I didn't want to eat so many.

Vampire went pretty well, and the smaller crowd meant not only did we finish one game, but actually TWO! Of course, Noel helped pretty well at bringing the first game to a speedy and orderly conclusion. Weenie stealth, never denied in its' claims of power, proved itself as lethal as you'd think it would be anyway. Ernie's first deck was Tzimisce, Rich played...ummm...his second was Gangrel...umm...crap...well, anyway, he was less of a factor than he might have wanted to be. I played a anti-Ventrue/Salubri deck - and drew NO Salubri and no Stranger Among Us cards. If I dropped in duplicate Salubris and Effective Managements, that -might- help. But I think I want to see one in action before I get all torqued out about getting them into play. So we'll see. Noel burned through Ernie relatively quickly, and got Rich after two turns more. I got the honor of bowing out, my two minions to Noel's 5-6.

The second game, Noel played Ravnos smacky, Ernie played Malkavian, Rich played Gangrel stealth AND intercept, and I was Nosferatu/Samedi. I got my Samedi and Improvised Blowtorches (nyahh, nyahh) out relatively quickly. Noel got to her stakes. Ernie - well, he bled. And bled. Rich once again got to play a combat deck that didn't get to block much. I burned one of Noel's vamps - whoo-hooo! - and Ernie got out a Pulse of the Canaille while Rich was tapped out. (I vaguely suspect Ernie -might- have had a stealth behind it, though.) Noel played Sensory Deprivation, an incredibly annoying card, -twice- on Ernie - and then found herself arguing against being targeted by a Malkavian Game by someone who felt completely pinned down by cards she played. Live fast, die hard. And incredibly, thanks to three ties and a Paper-Beats-Rock, Ernie took Noel out of the game - handing ME six blood and a victory point. Noel thought it was silly and random; Rich thought it was awesome. I more side with Rich, if only because I very rarely see a Malk Game -kill- someone. In the middle of all this, Ernie had killed Rich with the Pulse, and so it became him and me - and I had zippo intercept in the deck. It apparently was a design decision to run on directed attacks. While this was unsuccessful, I find myself wondering if:

4x Ambush
4x Bum's Rush
4x Cry Wolf
4x Games of Instinct
4x Harass
4x Haven Uncovered
4x Monomancy
4x Purity of the Beast
4x Status Perfectus, The
4x Wendell Delburton (Hunter)
4x Nose of the Hound
4x Muddled Vampire Hunter

and then 4x Madness Network would work. Just wait until your predator is done, and then beat the absolute crap of out their vampires, then draw-go. I'm finding that most combat decks that rely on BLOCKING to get into combat aren't getting the job done.

Anyway, after the games, Ernie left (as he's now working at 5AM) and Rich, Noel and I enjoyed one of our wonderful talk-till-1AM jaw sessions. We covered game design, tournament play, game company business strategies, and mainly focused on Star Wars and L5R. I got Rich to admit I had made "a strong argument" for the in-game cohesion of Masque of Judas - which is as much as I'm going to get out of him on the road to "I'm wrong and you're right". But then again, when have *I* offered that without hesitation? I also mostly talked Noel down from a position that the 4-card limit was particularly overpowering fast-bleed - fast-bleed is powerful REGARDLESS of card limit. (Though it does vaguely suggest trying VTES Highlander.) Anyway, they left, and I watched the end of Backdraft with Mom. Good movie - but I remember watching a making-of documentary and I know real barrels don't blast up like rockets. So it ruins it a little. Then I went upstairs, played Battlefront for an hour or so, and then showered and went to sleep. Unfortunately, I A) left my watch in the bathroom, so I had no idea what time it was this morning, and B) went to bed at around 3:30. So again, I was a little late today. Lucky me the place is a morgue - surprisingly enough for October.

Tonight I have to either honor a rather hastily-made commitment to go down to Be A Gamer in West Dundee and play LOTR, or inventory my RPG book collection for reference during tomorrow's auction. We shall see, we shall see.

Eat Snacky Smores.