World Building and Costume Conundrums

Wow, it's been a while since I posted.  I could come up with lame excuses why, but you've heard it all before.  Sadly, they're still reasons I've been kept away from this blog for too long.

At least I've got a modern browser on my work computer now, so I can start updating while I'm at work during breaks.

So what has DarthGM been up to in September?  Well, I've ordered a new costume.  Not for me, for my father.  He tried on my Biker Scout at the Dover Mini-Maker faire this past August and really liked it.  So we talked with a few folks and he has a suit of un-assembled Scout trooper armor on a UPS truck en route to his home.  Ideally we should have it set up for St. Pats day (if we troop it)

We also need to make some upgrades to his Old Ben Kenobi outfit.  The outer robe shrunk and the inner robe stretched out during one of the rainy parades he trooped in.  We got new material for his inner robes, but the wool army blankets I ordered to make his outer robe from never shipped.  Never even heard back from the eStore owner I bought them from.  That transaction is now in dispute with Paypal and I'm waiting for resolution.

Preliminary work is being done on a Cade Skywalker outfit for my stepson.  He'll be 18 by the time we go to Anaheim for Celebration VII, which means we can get him into the Rebel Legion group photo if we do a good enough job on it.  It's simple, yet difficult to make.  Gotta make it look right.

I wonder if we can submit him for a BH or SL designation in the 501st.  He was a Bounty Hunting, drug using scum who collected a bounty on a Jedi, and he did go dark-side for a while there.  If Mara Jade could do it and get SL designation, why not Cade?

I promised my stepson that if he got the costume all ready by his birthday, I'd get him Cade's lightsaber.  I thought I was going to have to build it from scratch, but Ultrasabers actually has a really good saber that looks right.

(Looks like Ultrasabers won't let me link their photos, but this is what I see as "close enough!")

Even my wife is starting to look into costumes.  She expressed interest in a couple; we'll see when we can move forward with one of them.

And me?  Cripes, I don't know.  I've been meaning to kick my EVA Jedi Knight/Sith Acolyte into high gear for a while now.  It's all about finding the time to work on it, which means I have to start neglecting something else.  Probably Mechwarrior Online is the next thing I really have to ramp back on.  Too bad, because in December they're releasing the King Crab, and it looks bad-ass.

Oh look; something else to fit into my already tight schedule!

I'm reminded that I was going to release my GenCon Module "The Big Leagues" for public consumption this month, or at least to those who backed the Order 66 Podcast/GamerNationCon 2015 Kickstarter.  I really need to get on that.  Building these characters using the Force and Destiny careers and specializations should prove a fun exercise.

I've made some changes to my "Another Longshot" campaign.  Previously I was running my Tuesday night game (dubbed the "Wild Cards")  as a prelude campaign to "Another Longshot".  I've had some inspiration with what I want to do with the overall Longshot campaign and right now the Wild Cards don't really fit into that.  I've split the Wild Cards off as their own campaign on Obsidian Portal and made a new Another Longshot website.

I've put some time and effort into mapping out a sector of space where the Longshot game will predominantly occur in; the Hagen Sector.  Thanks to Pro Fantasy and their Campaign Cartographer, I was able to slap together a pretty cool map of the area.  I then went and applied my "Eons System Generation" method I talked about a year ago and came up with some pretty fun locations.  I haven't fleshed out every system, but I've got some neat ideas.

And with that, I think I'll call it for another blogpost.  Gotta get back to work.

May the dice be with you.

Summer Vacations

It's been a while since I've posted on this blog.  It's summer time, and a lot happens away from the keyboard that tends to eat away at my time.  Work has also been pretty busy, which makes me forget about extraneous things like my blog.

It doesn't help that my normal work computer doesn't seem to like Blogger anymore.  I can get to the Post screen, but the out-of-date IE won't let me click on the text box to actually write anything.  That certainly slows me up.

Galactic Events

Let's talk about developments in the Star Wars gaming world.  GenCon just happened, and I didn't get to go.  Kinda sad, as I would have been able to pick up a copy of the Age of Rebellion Beta Rulebook.  Much to the surprise of everyone, FFG decided to move forward with a Beta for the next chapter/installment of their RPG.  New races, new careers, Rebellion Era ships, and even new Force Powers and Talents.  Thankfully, I've got a Fellow Legionnaire who was kind enough to pick me up a copy, and will be sending it to me Post Haste.

I'm sure this book will affect my Jedi trees somehow.  It also means that the possibility of a Force and Destiny Beta Rulebook is high, and should be at GenCon 2014.

I need to get my ass to Indy next year...

Galactic Warfare

 

War...war never changes...crap, wrong IP.

I spent last week on vacation.  Didn't really go anywhere (except to a water park and an amusement park on the same weekend).  Just me and the wife home alone for several days.  Fair amount of yardwork done, some relaxation, and a truckload of hours on Mechwarrior Online.  I'd "owned" the game with their Founder's Program for more than a year, but it wasn't until recently that I was really able to play the game.  Apparently my Graphics Processor couldn't handle the game.  Now, with an affordable upgrade, my machine can actually play the game on decent settings without it being a slideshow.

I'm having fun with it. Found a great guild to run with based on the Skye Rangers brigade; a Federated Commonwealth unit.  They're a large guild, divided up in a similar fashion to the actual brigade (3rd, 4th, 10th, 17th, 22nd, and 25th Skye Rangers).  They also have sub-groups for the Tamar Cavaliers, Kell Hounds, Grey Death Legion, and Snord's Irregulars.  After a few weeks of playing, I actually got invited to play in their competitive 12-man unit, the 1st Skye Jagers.  These are the top guys in the guild, running and practicing 12 man teams for tournaments.  With the next round of tournaments starting up soon for the "Run Hot Or Die" league, I might be able to get some actual competition in and see how I do.

 Galactic Isolation

But aside from that...I feel pretty cut off up here. I'm definitely feeling removed from not only my gaming community, but also my social community.  Sadly, this isolation is starting to really kill my creativity.  I've had many bouts of interesting ideas planted in my head that never germinated into anything.  I've got campaigns I want to run, stories I need to get back to but...nothing.  Can't keep focus on story-writing.  Can find the mental focus to stick with game writing.  I look at my gaming schedule and think "why bother, I can't get my PC party together for another 3 months". 

This is why I really loved the Monday Night Clone Wars game I had going for a while, Brothers In Arms.  I had to create, because I was running every other Monday night.  I kept my skills sharp, ready for the PCs to tangent.

I keep saying I need to get back to that, to get playing RPGs on a bi-weekly basis, even if it's over Skype or G+.  I need to kick myself until I can get the momentum going to run something.

A bi-weekly Edge of the Empire game...or Age of Rebellion (when my copy arrives). 

Yeah, I think it's time to make this happen.