billwerk

billwerk @ 2008-09-30T18:26:00

2008-09-30T23:35:47Z

"Ten years ago, a crack commando unit was sent to prison by an Imperial court for a crime they didn't commit. These people promptly escaped from a maximum security penal colony to the Spinward Marches underground. Today, still wanted by the Imperium, they survive as soldiers of fortune. If you have a problem, if no one else can help, and if you can find them, maybe you can hire...

The Alpha Team."

codrus posted recently about his idea for an Imperial Mission Force game set in Traveller using Spirit of the Century. Some random conversation today clicked with that idea. Maybe I'll even get to run it some time if I can get out of this gaming slump.

An Example of Irony

2008-08-23T01:07:15Z

A few days ago I was sitting in a resturaunt near the office eating lunch, and overheard some guys at the table discussing how to cheat on a test.

An ethics test.

Off to New Orleans again...

2008-06-20T12:16:01Z

This time for fun. Bayou Wars is this weekend. It should be interesting.

The eternal dilemma

2008-03-15T01:41:55Z

I don't like to go do stuff by myself.

In order to meet people, I have to go do stuff.

Feh.

OOOOOOOklahoma!

2007-12-23T00:11:29Z

Stupid snow, with its not waiting for me to get home before starting up. So now, 4 hours from the end of my 13 hour drive, I'm in a hotel in Oklahoma City waiting the storm out.

I guess I should have taken Friday off. Ah well.

I went to the state fair today.

2007-10-13T22:46:33Z

Note there is a difference between "to" and "into". I forgot that around here, "Opens at 8am" actually means "Opens maybe before noon, if you're lucky."

On the other hand, I walked there over lunch break (about a quarter mile from the office) a couple times, and got a phone-cam picture that gamehawk probably doesn't have:

A hole in my head

2007-09-21T00:20:42Z

Or at least, a hole in my mouth, where a tooth used to be. Been having occasional toothaches for a while now, but this past week they've become almost unbearably painful. Went to the dentist today, who said "Yep, that wisdom tooth has to come out" and sent me to an oral surgeon. Oral surgeon took it out. It's very disconcerting when the doctor says "Just a minute, I need to get an assistant and a pair of pliers." But, it came out with no problem ("Easiest tooth I've pulled all day," which makes me feel sorry for the people who needed more than an assistant and pliers) and now, 6 hours afterward, the local has worn off and there is just a very mild ache.

We'll see if this lasts to tomorrow. If not, I have a happy bottle of Lorcet in the cabinet now.

Gaming again!

2007-09-16T21:21:34Z

Finally, after six months of nothing, I'm gaming again. A friend is running a game of Paranoia XP every other Monday via IRC. Last session left off with a grenade about to detonate; the GM has since said that we probably will all be going to our second clones next session.

I have also started up another Spirit of the Century game, also on IRC. Three players, character creation took about three hours across two sessions. I expected there to be some problems with it, but I didn't realize what those problems would be. My advice for character creation via IRC: provide online a very clear, concise outline of the steps that need to be followed to create a character. Provide a simple, easy to reference (well-hyperlinked) document that has all the information needed to complete each step. And keep asking the players where they are. Offer suggestions even if they don't say they are stuck. Keep nudging them along.

Hopefully I learned enough from the game I (very poorly) ran before I moved that this game will go a lot better.

Career Meme

2007-09-14T10:07:28Z

This meme is either the best thing to happen to Career Cruising, or the worst.
Go to Career Cruising, www.careercruising.com
Put in Username: nycareers and Password: landmark.
Take their "Career Matchmaker" questions.
Post the top twenty results
Put the careers you have seriously considered in bold

1. Heating, Air Conditioning, Refrigeration Tech
2. Race Car Mechanic
3. Automobile Mechanic
4. Diesel Mechanic
5. Aircraft Mechanic
6. Motorcycle Mechanic
7. Industrial Machinery Mechanic
8. Elevator Installer and Repairer
9. Millwright
10. Agricultural Engineer
11. Electrical Engineering Tech
12. Electronics Engineering Tech
13. Office Machine Repairer
14. Aerospace Engineer
15. Tilesetter
16. Boilermaker
17. Welder
18. Automotive Painter
19. Plumber
20. Electrician

I'm noticing a little bit of a trend here. I can't say I've ever considered any of those as a career (maybe Aerospace Engineer, a little bit) but a lot of my hobbies consist of "design and build X."

And, of course, my actual career:
28. Electrical Engineer

Could be worse, I suppose...

2007-09-01T18:27:54Z

This must be how normal people have to program...

2007-08-22T02:07:46Z

... and I must say that it sucks.

Normally when I'm working on a project, I have a kind of mental image or map of what I'm doing. It's all there, like a sculpture, a mobile of little pieces all tied together. All I have to do is write the code that each of those pieces and ties represents, and the project is done. Easy as eating pancakes.

I've got an ear infection, and one of the drugs the doctor put me on affects concentration. And that sculpture is gone. The parts are all there, but I can't see how the parts go together. I can't figure out how to build the parts, so I can't get any work done.

So, I'm off to sleep, and I'm off that medication (it was optional, a decongestant that should have reduced the fluid in my ear but doesn't seem to be doing that at all anyway), and hopefully when I wake up in the morning I won't be normal anymore.

Looks like it's time for a new car.

2007-08-10T22:24:04Z

So, I had a business trip up to Chattanooga. Drove up there Wednesday, came back today (Friday). I had tentative plans to travel out east a ways and visit someone, but something came up and they were canceled. It turns out this was a good thing.

I'm almost home, cruising along and listening to a cd, and the cd starts cutting out. I find that strange and annoying, but it's an old cd and could be scratched. I put a new one in, and it doesn't play at all. Now I'm annoyed, switch to the radio. Radio's choppy too. Then some idiot lights come on, and finally I notice the battery gauge. It's sitting down at the bottom of "normal" and falling quickly. By the time I'm pulling into the apartment complex, every idiot light that can turn on has, my tach claims the engine isn't turning, and even though the engine _is_ turning it's sputtering so badly it can barely help the truck roll downhill.

This has happened twice, and both times I had to replace the alternator. Last time was this past winter, Novemberish. I don't think I've driven 10k miles since then. With the traveling I have to do for this job, that kind of reliability is unacceptable. So I guess I'll find a ride to the parts store tomorrow morning, replace the alternator (thank Autozone for lifetime parts warranties) and then see what kind of trade-in I can get on it for a PT Cruiser or something. I've been thinking about getting something more fuel-efficient than a Ranger anyway. but, it'll suck to lose the cargo carrying ability of my truck.

The laughter never ends.

2007-07-26T11:05:59Z

http://www.glumbert.com/media/laugh

I didn't think people actually laughed like that.

billwerk @ 2007-04-21T16:51:00

2007-04-21T21:53:13Z

Ok, I rarely echo links from other LJs, but this CG short film is just too cool.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1qw98_codeguardian

Education != Career

2007-04-05T23:27:01Z

As some of you know, I graduated from university with an electrical engineering degree. I'm now doing transmission system modeling for a large US power company. Or, at least, that's what I thought I was hired for. All I've been doing for the last two weeks is teaching myself how to program in Python; nobody bothered to mention until well after I started working there that they hired me in large part due to the computer science experience I got from my abortive first attempt at college. In addition to doing the modeling work, I'm also going to be writing code to automate everything I can to make it easier to do that modeling work.

Hired due to a degree that I not only didn't complete, but flunked out of. Ten years ago. Huh.

I enjoy programming, but I don't want to be a full-time code monkey, so this is probably perfect for me. I just didn't expect to do serious coding as part of this job.

It's a weird feeling, being homeless.

2007-02-24T21:56:48Z

The movers got everything from my apartment yesterday. Today, I finished cleaning the place up, broke my lease, and gave the office my keys. Tonight I crash at my parents again, and tomorrow I drive down to Jackson, MS and stay in a hotel. Hopefully I'll find an apartment quickly, but for now I have no home. It's strange, but kind of freeing; I don't have anything to worry about any more, just myself and my truck.

Maybe that's the massive head cold that's had a grip on me since Wednesday talking.

(This post brought to you by Panera Bread's free wireless. :)

When did moving become complicated?

2007-02-16T16:08:31Z

I remember, back in the day when it was time to move all it took was some friends, a truck, and some booze. Somehow that changed. Now it's a two-week long affair with consultants, pre-meeting meetings, inspections, and planning to plan for the necessary planning so that everyone's ready to plan.

I'm of half a mind to sell off everything but the essentials, tell my boss I'm starting Monday, load up a truck and just drive.

RPGNet forums are working again.

2007-02-02T06:15:51Z

Let the histrionics, blame-laying, and name-calling begin.

Edit: Wait, no, other problems. The inevitable complaining will have to wait.

New job, new city, new state. No games.

2007-02-01T23:19:49Z

I'll be moving in a couple weeks, so the SotC game is over (at least we finally finished that adventure :p) and the Star Wars game I was planning won't be happening at all. Maybe I'll pick it up as an IRC game once life settles down, or maybe I'll be lucky enough to find a new group after I move.

From Shannon, re: RPGNet

2007-02-01T15:49:16Z

Spread the word, folks. Don't try and post for a while.

"The Board is Down -- Update
"RPGnet has always been running up against the size limits of what vBulletin supports. Today we hit that problem again when our database of posts exceeded the maximum number of internal pointers that were supported by the database.

"Ouch.

"After some research I've come upon what should be a fix. However, it requires making a change to the core 'post' database which will take, at best, hours.

"I've set it loose, and hopefully things will be better by morning.

"Until the problem is resolved you will be unable to post. I suggest not trying until 5am PT/8am ET, else the board will end up shut down with 'too many connection' messages."

They didn't meet that deadline (at least, I still can't get in) but this is what's going on.

[SotF] The Force again

2007-01-26T03:49:23Z

Mysteries will be replaced with The Force. On its own, The Force represents knowledge of how the Force works. Coupled with an aspect that shows training in the Force, the skill shows how well the character can manipulate the Force.

Many uses of the Force will involve invoking a Force-related aspect just like any other aspect. For things that are specifically tied to the Force (telekinesis, Jedi mind trick, etc.) spending a Fate point through a Force aspect will allow the character to use their Force skill to apply an aspect to a person or scene.

If a player wants to be able to use a specific facet of the Force without spending Fate points, it can be set up as a stunt. For instance:

Lightsaber Adept
(requires a Force-related aspect)
If you get spin when using your lightsaber to defend against a blaster attack, you can use that spin to immediately inflict a point of damage against your attacker.

[SotF] "I'm not such a bad pilot myself!"

2007-01-13T21:48:10Z

Landspeeders, starfighters, and spaceships. In a Star Wars game, you're sure to see them, and someone's gonna want to know how to fly them.

The simplest way I can see to handle this is to use the existing skills. Drive covers wheeled vehicles, landspeeders, speederbikes, and anything else that moves on or close to the ground. Pilot covers snowspeeders, aircars, starfighters, and space freighters; aircraft and spacecraft that can reasonably be flown by one person. This easily matches the idea that some random farmboy learns enough bombing around in the scifi equivalent of a cropduster to be able to fly a C-130 or an F-18.

Of course, the stunts can be used as written, or with minor text changes to better suit Star Wars. Prototype Starship rather than Prototype Aircraft, things like that.

[SotF] The Force

2007-01-04T05:32:08Z

I've been pondering on the Force, and how to represent it in this Star Wars game. I think I'm leaning toward a single Force skill and two or three stunts. The blatant powers (Jedi mind trick, telekinesis, jumping, etc.) will be Fate point driven, to keep them from completely outclassing the other stunts and keep players from using them to get out of every situation.

The thing is, Vader would have had to use a _lot_ of Fate points near the end of TESB, throwing all that hardware at Luke. Even assuming he managed 3 or 5 shifts on his Force rolls and had a kind GM, that scene alone would have used up most of them. But, what if he got more Fate points from the Dark Side of the Force? In exchange for a little Complication, he could get more than enough Fate points to smack Luke around.

I'm not entirely sure it'll work, or do a good job of doing what I want, but it's at least an interesting idea to play around with.

"Spirit of the 'Verse" becomes "Spirit of the Force"

2007-01-02T17:53:41Z

The GM of the AD&D2 game I've been playing in has said he's burned out and can't keep running it. No biggie, it happens, and that game ran longer than most that we play. I'm actually surprised he kept going as long as he had, given how much prep he was doing for weekly sessions and that it was his first game.

I've been working on "Spirit of the 'Verse" for a month or so. A Firefly/Traveller game run using a somewhat hacked Spirit of the Century. When I proposed it to the group last night, I got a resounding chorus of indifference. Star Wars, however, got a lot of interest and reminiscing about the last SW game I ran. We also talked about running another player's Angel game, but no actual decision was made. I'll prep for the SW game, and hopefully the work won't go to waste.

Various group members have things going on for the few weeks, so I have three weeks to put together a Star Wars game using Spirit of the Century.

"Does it really matter?"

2006-12-22T00:40:55Z

Over on his blog, Carl looks at one of my SotC group's big problems: the constant and long "what do we do now?" discussions that derail play and get us sidetracked onto unimportant things.

And I realized on reading his comments that I enable those discussions, even when I'm sitting there wishing they would hurry up and choose something. In an attempt to hurry things along, I'll tell the players things like "Well, if you steal their airplane, the bad guys could see it land at the airport and see you all getting off; if you use a Century Club plane, they won't have as much warning." The thing is, it doesn't matter which plane they use. It doesn't matter if the bad guys get an early warning, because that early warning isn't going to make a difference in what is coming up. Instead of giving the players possibilities and potential results, I need to instead say "It doesn't matter, let's move on, you take a plane to Egypt."

When these discussions start, I need to ask myself "Does it really matter?" Does it really matter how the lackey is dealt with? If the players don't want him to warn his boss, and I (as GM) don't have plans one way or another, we can just say he won't be able to warn his boss. We don't have to discuss it ad nauseum and burn a quarter of our playtime figuring out the best way to force a conclusion we all are ok with in the first place.

I know where this behavior comes from; I learned it back when I first started gaming. I just never saw before how disruptive it is to the game. So, in the future I'll have to make a point of asking myself "Does this matter?" and shuffling the cats along if it doesn't.