mikekn

From partiallyclips:

I'd just like to say...
Epic win for the "Dungeons & Dragons Crowd." America just leveled.

I can't tell if I've actually been busy these last few months or not. Can't really remember much of it, and the calendar only gives me a few clues.

I've started making mead with complexated - we made our third batch last night in honor of the Mead Moon on Wednesday. We also racked a heather honey mead I have that didn't really work out. It has a bitter taste to it that I don't think I can do anything about/with. Still need to research it though.

Gaming is happening, two D&D games and regular Philly Gamers meetings. I've got no free Saturdays this month or next, so no Game Day anytime soon. (Technically, this Saturday was recently freed - skipping an SCA event - but I need to get stuff done around the house).

Got the new 4th ed D&D books. Only read a little of them so far, it's definitely different. Not sure about good or bad yet, but we'll give it a try at some point.

My next SCA event is Bhakail's Investiture (6/28 - history display and games), then Great Northeastern War (7/11-7/13 - history display). EK War Camp is likely, but camping vs day tripping is still up in the air. After that we're on to Pennsic.

Just got the last of what I was owed from my previous job (yay). Took 'em a while but I figured they would be good for it eventually.

Zwahlen's has Blueberry ice cream today and tomorrow. I wonder if it will make a good milkshake...

Finally bought a GSP the other day. Still haven't really tried it out (though I watched it track my progress to work this morning).

I need a nap. Or lunch. Or both.

Had nice weekend filled with hanging out and playing games. Friday was the evil D&D campaign with complexated, hairness, catanache, shetiyah and Karl. We encountered our good counterparts, who were...interesting... I think a little deus ex machina (deus ex DM?) kept us from killing them outright, but we know they'll be back.

Saturday was Philly Area gamers. It was my first time a the new location (McKenzies brewpub). The food was good and the beer decent, but we were pressured on time (had to be out before 5). I managed to get in a game of Alhambra Dice and regular Alhambra. The dice game is fun, and has a good bit of strategy for a dice game (not that I applied it very well). The regular Alhambra went pretty fast due to the number of people we had playing, and again I wasn't able to successfully put any real strategy into play. After the games were done, I went up to my brother-in-law's place to catch the end of his birthday party. Lots of Wii-playing going on (but mostly by the adults!).

Sunday was a different D&D game with lots of laughter. After that I went over to hairness & complexated's place to watch the Superbowl. I didn't care who won, so I was just there to enjoy the game, the commercials and the company. All three delivered quite nicely :)

Look a bonus!
Currently in the CD changer:
1. Future Bible Heroes - Eternal Youth
2. The Decemberists - Her Majesty
3. They Might Be Giants - The Else
4. Suzanne Vega - Beauty & Crime
5. Johnny Cash - American Recordings
6. Voltaire - Boo Hoo
A completely pointless bonus!

Ah, good old D&D. I first started playing in 1979, but we were never very serious about it back then. I didn't really have a gaming group, so I didn't get to play that much. I got a bunch of the AD&D stuff, then avoided all the Second Edition AD&D (I was annoyed at TSR for getting rid of Gygax). I only got back into it when Wizards of the Coast took over. The games I've been in haven't seemed to last that long - falling prey to scheduling issues or other life stuff. I haven't DM'd since the early 80s, but I should try my hand at it again.

But that's not why I'm writing. I wanted to share some useful D&D links with folks:

Wizards of the Coast
Current home of D&D, good collection of new and old stuff to dig through.
http://www.wizards.com/

Great character sheets for folks who like filling them in by hand
http://www.emass-web.com/

Then there is PCGen - a Java app for making characters.
It is a bit tricky to use, but very powerful. The main down side is that it only has the basic set of races, classes, etc - but it can be customized once you get the hang of it.
http://pcgen.sourceforge.net/

Another alternative is HeroForge - a giant Excel spreadsheet for making characters
This one is easier to use, and contains a ton of expansions - but adding customized things requires a LOT of messing around with Excel. It also doesn't do as much in the way of item management. Still it is easier to work with the PCGen if everything you want is already supported.
http://www.heroforge.net/

Crystal Keep
These folks have made a great set of indexes of D&D stuff, which includes most of the source books and stuff from Dragon magazine.
http://www.crystalkeep.com/d20/index.php

The Acaeum - great resource for D&D collectors.
http://www.acaeum.com/index.html

So what else is out there and worth checking out?

I hate it when the a new month sneaks up on me like that.

( Update )

( Been awhile since I've done one of these. )

I'm probably forgetting a bunch of stuff, but that's what I get for wait so long between posts.

Time to catch up on stuff that's been happening.

( The last week or so )

Quick, write it down before it blurs into nothing...

( The lead up... )

( The weekend... )

( The plans... )

( Last week )

( This week )

Yeah, eventually I'll turn a picture of me into a userpic, but until then you're stuck with this.

( The weekend and a look ahead )