[RPG] Roundtable and Update

First, I want to suggest you folks go take a peek at this thought-provoking post. It was brought to my attention by the ever lovely Dungeonmum, and I figured I'd mosey over and chat a bit.

http://dndwithpornstars.blogspot.com/2011/02/female-gamer-roundtable-is-go.html

I have to say I'm not a usual frequenter of the site for a variety of reasons. However, it is by all metrics available, the most popular and highest traffic RPG blog out there- and giving lady gamers a chance to talk about their perspectives and ideas is a pretty good thing in my book.

I did notice that out of 630+ followers, he's only getting something like 30-40 replies. Zak's not dumb though, and he's putting up a follow up post for more discussion. (Actually, Zak and I have talked off an on via comments in a sundry number of RPG blogs and he's an excessively fun and intelligent guy.)

In other news, my Hero System game set in Hawaii is on hiatus at the moment. TheJoe, the GM, recently got a promotion. (YAY! He deserved it.) Due to this his schedule is a little wonky and he's waiting until things settle down to restart the game.

Some of you may have heard (or guessed), but I've decided to retire Eile in the near future. Exactly how (and when) is still very much up to my evocative and story-driven ST. I have some basic ideas about what will happen- but how I react to it and where it leaves the other players is the meat of the matter. It's very much the crux of the D1 style discussion as was brought about by Porky and expanded on by a large number of folks.

Once Eile's story is concluded (or perhaps a better word is withdrawn), I'm not sure where that will leave me on the RPG front. I'm actively thinking about my game world again- and I have some new questions and thoughts to go along with the making of a world. Porky's got me all flustered on naming conventions, though.  I wonder if his "place" in the community is stirring things up, as opposed to mine, which is inspiring others. Food for thought.

I have more subjects for the "core" RPG series I was doing, but this week I wanted to discuss what *I* am doing, and then get back to community.

Community is what I love, and I'm always interested in what's going on around me. I am trying to make my feeds and links direct content that's compelling and provoking- so I'm working on keywords and really honing in on what I want to discuss.

Be Well,

'Lo

[40K] Grab Bag - Including WIP shots!

GMort's article about blaming dice made me smile. He's right, for the most part. But sometimes, you CAN blame the dice. 

Really. ONE six and 9 ones (1 not visible in picture)

This week I did a lot of admiring. My Chaos-As-Space-Wolves friend showed me these:

Pointy Land Raider!

A Flamer. So fun!

I did get a game in against The Star Wars Imperial Guard Army. His Sentinels are really nice!

We played a pitched battle game where he seized initiative. We did a lot of blowing each other up to a mutually satisfying draw. I'll try to do a full bat rep later this week.

As one might expect, a guy with an army like this has a big personality. He was more than happy to model with his models!

Brother Darius continues to slay Heretics. Here, he's got a Guardsman hanging by that lovely sword.

And here's the  hill after the assault phase:

I'm finally getting a little painting done. I am trying to achieve a brushed dark metal look- black, without USING black.

TEST MODEL 1

Using Ral Partha's Steel as a wash.

TEST MODEL 2

Using P3's Armor Wash as a wash

In person, I much prefer the Steel wash- it's got a slightly metallic look and gives a much darker feel. In pictures, it's tough to see a difference.

I've been putting off makimg my army ready to play long enough. I went through last night and sorted- what needs "repairing", what needs primed, and what needs painted.

I have a large batch of little plastic Space Doodz ready to prime. It's big enough it will probably take several batches to get them all done.

In addition to repairing some broken models, I'm putting new "choppy" arms on about 30 guys. I'm also considering putting together that Storm Raven. It has a lotta parts! (But thankfully comes with instructions)

I'll probably be throwing some guys into the purple lake tonight as well- I'm tired of the Ugly Crusade.

Be Well,

'Lo

[BIRTHDAY] Contest Results!

I want to thank each and every one of you for your fabulous, wonderful, generous wishes for my birthday. It was absolutely spectacular, and I enjoyed every minute of it. I woke up to find a Storm Raven with my name on it, and it just got better from there. (How that's possible, I'm not really sure- but it did!)

Friends and family helped me celebrate in style and I have to say- I really, truly, honestly NEEDED a day of just ridiculous, over-the-top spoiling like I got. I've been burning the candle at both ends (and in the middle too) for a while. Having a day where I got and did what I wanted was .... well.... really nice.

Now, to the meat of the matter- the contest!

Each of your entries was interesting and fun in some way. Each of you took time out of your busy, crazy lives to share something with me- an aspect of me they saw, an idea they wanted to pass on, some token or treasure they had in their head. That alone was a pretty darn good present, and on top of it, the entries were great!

Contest #1- Most of you understood how much I love words, and played with them to encapsulate my personality and blog into a short snippet. Before I announce the winner, I'll share the entries:


1) This in iteslf is wonder...

2) Inspire yourself to wonder...

3) World of Wonder: Proving unicorns exist since (insert year you started gaming/year you were born/random year/random 4 numbers here)

4) Wench waxes whimsical; war, wifecraft, witch with words; wonders woven weekly.

5) Wondrous and Loquacious Ramblings and Reflections on a Wide Variety of Words

6) Wherin you can find the thoughts and reflections of a wife, mother, and gamer

7) Boardgames and Roleplaying-games: Musings and Reflections of a Wife, Mother, and Gamer

8) Gregarious Girl’s Guide to Good Gaming and Gushing Graciousness & Making Modern Motherhood Mostly Manageable.

9) Genuine Gopher Gaming Girl Gets it done with Weird Wacky Wild Wonderful Words

10) Audacious, bodacious, tenacious, veracious, Loquacious.

11) What has two thumbs and is awesome? THIS BLOG!!

12) Global domination is not just a game for men.

13) Where wizards, warriors, werewolves, witches and wyverns are warmly welcomed with words of whimsy.

14) Whimsical wanderings with wizards, warriors, werewolves, witch hunters, wyverns and words.

Some of these made me laugh- HARD. A couple were favorites right away. I decided to enlist the help of TheGirl (remember, she's distracted by shiny things) and TheDude. Both of them voted on the same entry, which was one of my favorites. Clearly, we had a winner!

Who is it?

Chris D with his entry of: World of Wonder: Proving unicorns exist since (insert year you started gaming/year you were born/random year/random 4 numbers here)

I'm sticking in 1985, the year I started gaming. I love the nod to the absurd here, as well as the acceptance of the strange complexity of the female gamer. Plus, it's FUN!

This winner had a close competitor with Porky's entry -


Audacious, bodacious, tenacious, veracious, Loquacious.

I love the rhyme, the playfulness, the intent, and most of all the accuracy of all the words used here to describe me. I'm keeping it to use in another place in my blog, many thanks to Porky.

Onto the banner contest:

 

I have to say that this was truly difficult for me- I love two of them very, very much. Both of the designers in question are thoughtful and considered me and my blog very seriously. Both of them captured an element of “me” that I found more than a little surprising.

Here's the “runner up”- What I liked most was that the designer was more than willing to change the eye from blue to brown at my request. My eyes are brown, and if I'm sharing my perspective, my viewpoint, if you will – with you, I'd like the eye to be brown.

Thor over at Creative Twilight did an amazing job, and with his permission, I'm using the banner for my Weekly Whimsy posts on Sunday. I like this so much, I can't help but smile when I see it- and I would love to share that simple joy and wondrous perspective with you on a regular basis.

I think in the end, what helped the winner come out on top was that he emailed me privately. He asked permission to use something he saw on the blog as an element of his banner- and without knowing it, he touched on something truly special to me.


Here's the winner (without the new motto):

DaMastaCheef over at DLWDG designed this for me. What sold me on it was the use of the lily.

He had no idea, but that lily is beyond special. It's my daily reminder of who I am, my place in this world, and why I'm “H” and not someone else. The lily is one of a bouquet sent to me several years ago. The Dude didn't have a reason- he just wanted to say he loves me. He knew I'm allergic to nearly every kind of flower under the sun, but not lilies- and that I love them. He had them delivered to me at work, at a time when I was the receptionist and everyone in the building would see them.

The Dude's not a terribly romantic type, so flowers are a BIG, BIG, BIG deal. The amount of thought and consideration he put into those flowers is a treasure to me. The knowledge that I mattered that much to TheDude was something I couldn't forget. I've mentioned before that I scrapbook (or used to) and I made a beautiful little book with pictures of those lilies.

Using a picture of the lily as my avatar was my own way of keeping the scrapbook with me, even on the 'net. It's my way of showing The Dude that I remember and understand “us”.

The use of the lily in the banner was an extravagant way for me to show my Dude that he's part of everything I do- even the stuff I do on my own. Thanks, DaMastaCheef!

I'll have the new banner with the new slogan on the site soon (tomorrow, I hope!). Until then, send a big congrats out to the two winners and know that I had a blast sharing my birthday with you. 

[Weekly Whimsy] Romance

[Welcome to Weekly Whimsy! Accentuating ardor, amour, admiration and affairs; regaling relevant rules for relations.] 

“O for the gentleness of old Romance, the simple planning of a minstrel's song!”   John Keats

Got a special someone? Lady Friend? Dr. Girlfriend? She Who Must Be Obeyed? Wife? Man? Sexy Thing? Dude? Husband? 

If so, no doubt you've noticed that Valentine's Day is quickly arriving. I've heard countless times from many of my male gaming friends that Valentine's Day gives them something of a complex- they simply have no idea “what to do”. I thought I'd toss you guys a bone and help you out. 

Yes, I know I'm a little late on the scene. I probably should have followed my own, best advice when it comes to wooing;

1- Do a little planning. 

For us gamers, being prepared is either second nature, or a terrible burden. I know countless guys that come to game ill-prepared (no dice, paper, pencils, nothing). For them, thinking ahead is an actual chore. Then there's those of us who are just a little crazy about being ready for anything. I'm personally guilty of having no less than 3 pens at any time and I usually have a pad of paper, too. For me, being prepared is second nature to who I am. 

Regardless, when it comes to romance, planning ahead is essential. Don't wait until the last minute- or you'll end up giving wilted, terrible flowers from a gas station, bad lingerie from Kmart, or Little Debbie's Valentine Cakes. (Sometimes those terrible gifts can turn into a goofy tradition- but be aware at least some frustration will come of it before your Sweetie thinks it's “sweet”.)

What kinds of planning has a LOT to do with your special friend, and almost nothing to do with “what the media says”. Here's an example:

If your Significant Other adores Motocross, getting her a hearts & flowers gram is not going to be as effective as getting tickets to the nearest dirt track show. If he likes SCA and RenFaire stuff, he'll most likely be far more tickled with a trip to Medieval Times than going to see the latest Jet Li movie.

Having tickets to these sorts of things takes thinking weeks (if not MONTHS) in advance. Many of these sorts of adventures involve travel. That can include hotel stays, dinner out, and distractions other than the intended event. Coordinating all of the said itinerary ahead of schedule with consideration to your partner's tastes can turn you into a hero overnight. But all of those ideas need at least an element of 

2- Know Your Partner's Interests- This, in a nutshell, is: PAY ATTENTION. 

You know what synergies work best in your armies, right? The same should be said for your romantic endeavors. Know what works, and use it to your advantage. 

I'm a pretty simple girl. I like good food, games, books, miniatures and purses. I'm also very fond of surprises. I'm known to enjoy wrestling, football, basketball and goofy action movies. A quick surprise date to see a movie like “Red” and going out to have dinner at a place I haven't tried before is going to score TheDude major points with me. Knowing what makes your partner smile is a key element to romancing and wooing said person. 

Giving a gift (or expressing your affection in a way) that's meant to show you understand her, and care about what she likes is golden. Guys like it too- nothing's worse than a bad golf tie when he hates 'that game with the crooked sticks'. Give him a StormRaven, a new Citadel Paint set, or maybe a Battle Foam bag instead.

This third pointer is really meant for the guys, but girls can learn at least a little something, too.

3- Make your partner feel valued. 

 

This is a bit tough to explain, but it's kind of like showcasing your favorite IC or HQ on your blog for all their massive exploits. You want to offer public validation and recognition for that special someone in your life so they're seen for how truly awesome they are. 

This is really about helping a girl feel like a princess in a fairy tale- making a special impression with a truly grand gesture. Guys like to feel like rock stars, with tons of adoring fans and massive adulation. 

If you send flowers (and you should know IF she likes them and what kind), do it EARLY in the week, and send them to her work. She'll get the thrill of seeing a delivery just for her, she gets to brag on you all week, and get admiring glances from the other gals at work. It's a win-win. 

Tell him how much you appreciate him- in writing, through music, with a tattoo or writing a check to help fund his dream. Do it in a big way, so that he knows how much you treasure what he does for you, and he can gloat to the other guys how he has “the best partner in the universe”. It's a win-win.

Doing just a little work will pay off big in the long run. Just like play testing or honing a list (and subsequently stomping face), the effort is completely worth the results when your loved one swoons at your romantic gestures. 

Being “romantic”, much like winning against a tough competitor, is not simple- but it's easily accomplished with preparation and planning. 

Be Well (and be prepared), 

'Lo