Month: Mar 2020

Game Night Returns

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Well, that happened… That’s actually the title of the game that I’m running and it seems entirely appropriate for a heavily roleplay-orientated group with similarly dry senses of wit as my own.

The mix of character personalities bubbles gently as we have a mix of introverts and extroverts at play – fortunately the most extrovert of them is Lord S, who as an opera performer delights in elevating everyone around him. Taking the royal of a flamboyant rogue of a noble halfling, he took us on a good five minute babble about the difference between asking someone nicely to do something and asking someone nicely to do something.

My notes on the session are as follows:

Key events – from memory: breakfast included another session of catching practice, where Caeluma switched up to using daggers rather than their tail for catching apples, and everyone thought a fight was about to break out. Alfonso and Briar took the stage to warm applause, but only after Alfonso nearly had a breakdown trying to explain to Caeluma the difference between asking nicely and asking nicely. The Secretary of Orcish Antiquities let people pet her Iron Defender “George” and her pet dinosaur enjoyed being snuck all the treats.

University IDs were handed out, a formal signing of the DDC charter happened, and a job was provided as a test run for the group to investigate a cave/ruin recently uncovered on the Thrane border by bad weather. Return tickets for the Lightning Rail to Fort Light have been provided.

Then there was a bit of a training session, first with a warforged ex-soldier called Speedy, and then with skeletons. The match was called after a minotaur skeleton KO’d Briar and sent them flying literally ten foot through the air.

We ended the session with a cut back to the bar and everyone covered in comedy bandages and moving in some discomfort to order dinner.

And then we mostly stayed up chatting until nearly four in the morning.

Dearie, dearie me…

The DDC

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I was telling my counsellor via video call last night that one of the absolute joys that has been lifting my spirits has been this new gaming group and the use of a Discord server to keep us all in touch. Everyone is meshing so well that we’ve got impromptu roleplaying on one of the channels that has tempted everyone in.

It’s leading to character developments from quirks and hobbies to re-evaluation of initial concepts and back stories – with our heroes being hired by a patron in the Wynarn University of Aundair as a field research group. They’ve settled on calling themselves the DDC, and to tell everyone something different when asked what it means.

The five players have decided on roles within the group, from scholar to financier, scout, fixer, and anthropologist. We will no doubt see what that actually translates to once we get to the meat of the adventure, but for now they are a happy group who sort breakfasts for each other, have discovered a love of knitting, try to teach juggling with knives, and sit excitedly on public transport sightseeing.

It’s a very different set of dynamics to previous groups, so there’s a delight in that, plus several people haven’t really played much or at all before so there’s a sense of excited discovery going on. I’m not using any premade adventures this time out so it will all be a bit more freewheeling. I can’t wait to see where it takes us*

*I actually have a fairly well plotted idea for the first few weeks, so I fully expect that to be thrown out the window in short order

Cough and Splutter

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Well the good news is that Lady M seems to be recovering, but I can’t stop coughing and the rattling in my chest is worse. I guess it’s my turn to be a bit pathetic when the cuppas need making.

Hopefully this is something that’ll blow over quickly. I’m already tired of the cough just today, and generally feeling very fatigued. Given I started asking staff how they’re doing as we’ve all been sent home, it feels odd to be doing it while stopping my lungs from detonating.

Texted by the Government

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Although they started making noises about it a few years ago, the UK government never actually got round to making any kind of formal emergency messaging system work. The cynical among us might think that because no one was lined up to get rich out of it that it never got the real push it needed – rather than being concerned that it would be a really sensible thing for a government to do to disseminate important information.

Compare this with South Korea, The United States, or the Netherlands for example. South Korea has been so aggressive in its development and adoption of it that they have reportedly been able to communicate the movements of infected people on their way to get tested or quarantined to minimise potential harm to others.

But no, here in the UK the govt had to ask the four major phone providers to send a text on their behalf to tell me to stay at home, just in case I hadn’t noticed the news in any way, shape, or form.

If it helps focus minds, then good, it’s better than nothing, but I’m already hearing from people whose phones flagged it as spam or suspected phishing attempts. That does not bode well.

Lockdown

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We’ve been such hermits with being in isolation that the announcement of some form of lockdown in the UK has been largely met in our household with a bemused snort and a glance out the window at the children playing on the estate. Our own health has been reasonable until today, but Lady M has worsened noticeably in the last twenty-four hours and has spent most of the day on the sofa dozing in front of Disney+ and a Toy Story marathon. Her temperature is noticeably up, and she is having difficulty breathing – but we’re reminding ourselves that her underlying asthma means that whatever germs are doing the rounds normally hit her chest hard anyway so there’s a lot of intentional grounding thoughts taking place at the moment.

My own health seems to be stalled at the rattling in my chest and brain fog with added muscle aches, but I can hold my breath for ten seconds without noticeable affect, and am only occasionally dry coughing. Assuming I don’t develop anything else with Lady M declining I should be okay. Hygiene and general distance isolation continue to be the routine.

Have some random cosplay body positivity

I’ve mostly been in the office doing preparation for our new D&D group which looks like it will be a feature of our Sunday evenings for the forseeable future. We originally set up a Discord just to chat and arrange Cards Against Humanity games online, but once I’d mentioned it as an option I practically had my ears bitten off in enthusiasm.

So at least I have a side project to engage me for the time being. It is another trip to Eberron, this time under Fifth Edition rules, which is a new experience for me and indeed most of the people taking part. Lady M and Lady B, Lord S, myr s, and Mre B are so far signed up, and I will indeed chronicle some of their adventures here too. Its been a good three years or so since I’ve done any tabletop gaming so I’m looking forward to it.

It does seem somewhat paradoxical then that at a time of enforced isolation and lockdown that I’ve never been more social in my interactions. I’ve always been an active text communicator, and between the Discord, Messenger, and various voice call interactions with family and friends I seem to be positively overflowing with people to talk to.

Which is nice – even if my brain has gone into information sponge mode.

What has been a lovely surprise is how well everyone has gelled together and how much roleplay is taking place outside of session. We had a session zero this weekend to check all characters were made up, decide on bonds and links between them, and to also agree the style and boundaries of the type of game people wanted to play. A couple of people have messaged me about a couple of topics that they really would not enjoy, and by and large we’ve come to an understanding of who the characters are and why they are choosing to embrace the adventuring life together. Within the game itself they have an employer, and resources and obligations that come with that – if nothing else the process and session zero has given me plenty of potential story hooks and beats to play with.

I’m selfishly hoping this will also help my creative writing side wake up. Like any skill it needs exercise, and running roleplay games has always helped. The in-character Discord chats that have been running since Sunday are already sparking ideas, and are a complete delight to read in any case.

Decluttering Day

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Today has been spent pottering around, shredding old files and envelopes with personal data, and having a tidy. Something about the sunshine has obviously kicked me into spring-cleaning mode.

A large black binliner now sits by the door full of odds and ends and shredded paper ready for a late-night wander down to the bin store as a result.

And following on from the Cards session we’re now talking about getting Roll20 sessions going again. It’s a whole new group, but most have played at least a little before even if they’ve not necessarily used the site before. We’ll do a tech test tomorrow and see how it works

About Last Night

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With isolation looming for many of us, a group of us self-confessed geeky queers set up a Discord server last night and started playing Cards Against Humanity.

The carnage was livestreamed on the Book of Faces for a while, and I have to say it was a wonderful three hours of letting our collective hair down and laughing at the world. My cheeks have not ached from grinning so much in ages.

Even with the coughing fits and pauses where we had to battle for bandwidth with everyone else using the site it was a great morale boost. It was exhausting, but much needed. Here’s to more, and I think there will be.

With all the worries and upsets around us, having a safe space to unwind is going to be all the more important, and this allows us to keep and make connections even as health dictates we keep our distance. I’d say it may even keep us sane, but that does seem like tempting fate.

Adventures in Time and Space

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I’m trying not to climb the walls, mostly because I don’t have any energy and my eyes are hurting all the time. Last night sleep was broken so that hasn’t helped the lethargy today either.

For the most part I’ve been reading and trying to write and draw, but my heart hasn’t been in it. Instead I’ve been drawing together a wide selection of fellow geeks and oddballs so we can support each other online. A discord server is up and running, and we’re planning an online game of Cards Against Humanity for this evening. Even if that doesn’t go to plan, we now have a lively chat group all reaching out and supporting each other.

Good deed for the day, I feel. I’m currently deciding how apocalyptic I want to start dressing. It’s a bit damp and wet out there for full Mad Max-style leather and studs, but I’m thinking something a bit steampunk and dramatic.

This should do for checking the mailbox

Self Isolating

Tim Maidment2 Comments

Well this morning started with a slight breathlessness and tickle in the chest and a bit of a dry cough – and the news that both Lady M and myr s aren’t feeling great either, so we’ve gone into isolation.

Lady M can work from home, and while my job is mostly public facing I can at least access email remotely to keep in touch. I had a long conversation with my boss and a co-manager to arrange immediate issues and then stayed in and posted a note to our local FB group for the estate. It’s lovely to be able to report that the messages of support have been heartening.

The hope, obviously, is that these are just colds, or if we do have covid that it’s mild enough that we can just get through and back to to normality – whatever that is. The local shops have imposed rationing in the face of widespread panic-buying so I guess we’ll see how we go.

Between my diabetes and Lady M’s asthma we’ve been mentally prepared to lock down but there is still a sense of things being out of joint. In the other household, myr s is concerned about their father and brother – both of whom have health issues – as well as the cub. Fortunately Lady J is in robust health, but has concerns for her mother who lives locally.

I’ve just woken from sleeping a while this afternoon. Lady M is asleep on the sofa as I write. We’re both trying to vary our days and activities so we limit how much walk climbing we do. I plan to adopt some of my freelancer days routines to break the day up in the process.

Fortunately I largely live as a hermit anyway so the mental shift isn’t too great. I’m mostly just struggling with a sense of guilt that I’m not out there working and helping people, even though I know that this is the sensible thing to do that minimises hurting anyone else.

Oh well. I now have no excuse for not writing something every day at least.

Passing Time

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I’ll preface this by saying I don’t currently feel unwell. That said I can’t help but be nervous just from all the reports of illness, and the notices from people on my social feeds that they are either infected or self-isolating at the moment. Coupled with the panic buying in the local shops, which is the worst I’ve ever seen, and I’m having to actively manage my time and reactions to keep a steady keel.

Lady M and I have spent this evening anxiously on different sofas thanks to her chest feeling “a bit rattly” when she got home. With no temperature or actual cough, not to mention the feeling disappearing once anti-histamines were taken, we’ve tentatively put it down to anxiety and hay fever. But we’re still sleeping in separate rooms to be on the safe side tonight.

Chatting online with myr s, they’re not coping with the worry well either. We’re all of us anxious for our families and loved ones. We’re all total geeks so the thought of enforced time at home with our books and games isn’t particularly daunting – it really is just the potential knock-on to others that has us all on edge.

For my part I’m just hoping that I’ve merely got the plague from a particularly persistent cougher who took over the public PC area this afternoon. Bit of plague can be treated, it’ll be fine.

Anyway, haven’t got time to brood, I’ve books to read and drawings to complete