Eseme's Den

There is an advice column for geeks and gamers. Jess Hartley was a guest at UBCon twice, and she has worked for White Wolf and other gaming companies. Now, she is taking on the role of Miss Manners for those of us who game or have other geeky hobbies - answering reader mail and questions. She's covered things like keeping an IC romance just IC, dealing with a GM who is not enforcing the rules equitably, and talking to the general public while at a con or other event.

Check out One Geek to Another at her website : http://www.jesshartley.com/index.php

She also wrote the very popular series on "GenCon For The Aspiring Professional."

So, I need to write in this thing more.

Let's see, the holidays happened, and there was lots of driving around, and then seeing my sister after the holidays while she was moving. And I need to get my passport renewed, shince she will be living in Canada for a while and I'd like to visit.

I've found a local gaming group, which is cool. They play war games and board games, and eventually invited me to a D&D game. This is great, I've really missed D&D. We only play twice a month, or one a month if people's schedules are zany, but it's great fun. And I've kind of gotten back into painting miniatures, which I enjoy.

There may be another D&D group eventually. I finally met the doctor around here who plays D&D, and may end up playing in his Pathfinder campaign. Which would be cool, as playing 3.5 again means that the skills would no longer be nerfed.

And I will be near Rochester this weekend. But, not really in Rochester. I'll be at Running Gagg, spending a romantic weekend at a gaming convention. Well, I think it's romantic, but I'm a geek. Anyone else going?

The man who brought us that game has passed away.

More info can be found here. What a great guy- I'm amazed at his personal accomplishments.

So Simcon was fun, and I think I'll do a con report after I get back from my second gaming con of the season, UBCon. See http://www.ubsarpa.com for details.

And one of the guests is Jess Hartley again! She'll read from the new Hunter, which is pretty neat: http://jesshartley.livejournal.com/348673.html

Yay!

Hmmm, no one other than dihi wants to ask questions. Odd. If anyone changes their minds, I'm waiting about two days before declaring that meme closed and answering her questions.

As mentioned before, I've got that gaming journal. I've decided to post old (read very old) writeups over there. Only for games which have ended (so, not for the LARP in Buffalo which is still running). I don't want to reveal plot details or anything. For those interested, feel free to friend eseme_games.

I just posted my first LARP writeup EVER. Yep, a blast from the past (2002) to be exact.

The new journal has its first post, a soon to be heavily edited character sketch (she's going to work in a very different sort of place, so I'll need to write a more fitting job intro).

I've added those who asked to be added. Any others?

Reading through the section in the Character Creation chapter of CtL on powers. What Changelings can and can't do. And it looks like the character idea I had simply won't work as originally envisioned. At all. There are just some things one can't do with the system.

Those things being detecting thoughts or reading minds. Not even surface thoughts. Granted, that sort of thing can get out of hand very fast, so I can see why it was eliminated entirely from the system. Still, one can't even detect emotions accurately (other than with the Ability Empathy). A Changeling can determine your greatest fear, or or greatest desire. They can incite wrath, fear, desire, and sorrow, but they don't have a power to determine what an individual is feeling right this instant. They also do not have a way of determining if someone is lying to them.

Now, I will admit that I am not very familiar with the base NWoD book (I've read a few bits of it but not the crunchy ones) so it is possible that basic Abilities like Empathy are a lot more powerful in this system and would allow someone with enough successes (in tabletop) to determine if an individual is lying.

You can achieve a similar effect by either scaring someone so much that they will tell you what you need to know (but may be so scared that they tell you what they think you want to know) or by angering someone so much that they make rash statements (or just try to kill you), or make someone so depressed that they give up and tell you their secrets (but may then be so despondent or freaked out that they don't join your terrorist group), or seduce someone into telling you the truth of why they want to join the group (but they may again tell you what they think you want to hear to impress you). None of which is a good way of dealing with most people who walk through the door- someone would need to be able to do all four things depending on the situation.

Also, given the new Pledge system, it is entirely likely that my original concept (someone in the rebellious terrorist organization Never Again who works to find moles and traitors) is completely redundant. I mean, presumably members take an Oath or Pledge of loyalty when joining and nasty things would happen if they broke it.

Still, it is just odd not to run into mental powers, as so many groups in the OWoD had them. Perhaps it all was too much of a headache.

And the other omission from the set of Changeling powers is just odd, from my standpoint (although it no doubt makes thematic sense). Changelings can create four primal emotions in mortals: Fear, Desire, Sorrow, and Wrath. What about Joy or Happiness? Changelings cannot make people happy. They can't create joy. Now, the World of Darkness in general tends to be in rather short supply of this emotion, so I can see why it is left out thematically. However, I'd argue that it is one of the most important emotions one can feel. So one wonders if the story of a child's laughter banishing the nightmares is true. Is Joy the anathema to Changelings? Is that one force the True Fae have no power over? Of does White WOlf simply think Happiness is not as powerful an emotion as fear or desire? If so, they really need to laugh more. Laughter can paralyze you. It can heal. Joy can bring you to tears. Some of our most pivotal moments in life revolve around Joy: weddings, graduations, birthdays, births, reunions... and no Changeling court truly exemplifies that emotion. Odd that something so powerful and so much a part of life is essentially left out.

In any event, I'll need to come up with a new concept. I'm still not done with the book, so I'm sure I will think of something.

Someone tell Josh, as I recall he was interested in this.

I read the LJ of the artist for the cover of A Marriage of Insects which is a novel set in World Tree by Brad bloom. Herethroy (the insect race) have three genders and thus rather interesting marriages.

Cover and book blurb (as well as purchasing) can be found here: http://www.world-tree-rpg.com/marriage.phtml

I blame Jill and Steve. I'm waiting for dishes to dry, and instead of packing soemthing else I am forced to get this idea out of my head and into words.

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"Hi there, I'm Wendy." Cheerful, but not too cheerful. Let's see who this is.

"Yes, I've heard every Neverland joke there is. And I know you meant it as a joke, don't look so offended." That was the worst one yet. I'll have to remember to tell Rinaldo, he'll get a kick out of it.

"But that's not how you remember that I'm Wendy. I'm also the Welcome Wagon for these little meetings. Wendy, Welcome Wagon... Anyway, I'm here to get you up to speed on the organization." Oh, a spark of interest there. Hmmmm, let's see...

"We fight the fae, but you knew that. We all have our reasons. Me, I never even knew my parents. It took me a while to get strong enough to fight my way out, but once I did you can bet I wasn't going back to working in the fields again. How about you?"

Ahhhh, laying it on a little thick there... Now, what really happened? ... Well, that's predicatble.

"I can certainly see why you're here. Who recommended you? I can make sure you sit near them if you like. It helps to have a friendly face." Interesting. So that's who sent you.

"Oh, the meeting's about to start. The early stuff isn't going to make a lot of sense at first, so why don't we go over here and I'll fill you in." That's right, this way. You know you want to.

"Now then, as I was saying... Oh, don't look so scared. That's just Rinaldo. He's sort of security here. And yes, that is a gun at your back. I've got one too. And Jaques over there" Come on Jaques, a little faster... there, he's got the sword out, "with the sword. And there are plenty of other folks here who don't need weapons to make your life interesting. Like me, for instance. Now, we're going to go have a little chat. ... And I heard that! You won't be burning this place down, let me tell you. No Fire. There, that's better. Come along now..."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Wendy, no last name yet, was taken somewhat later in life. She was thirteen, trying to earn a bit of extra spending money babysitting. The next morning, the Pearson's found their two year old girl safe in her crib, but no sign of her sitter. Wendy's face was on milk cartons a decade before computer aging programs, and by now she's a statistic.

What does she do? She reads minds, surface thoughts mostly. But those thoughts tell enough about someone's motivations. That and some degree of empathy.

And what do you do in the fae realms to get such skills? Why, what Wendy was doing the night she was taken: Babysitting. Fae take babies and children, for their beauty or for amusement... but those children still have diapers to be changed, make messes when they eat, and need to be watched over. Few fae have the temperament, or the desire to put up with human bodily fluids. The obvious solution is to take humans to watch over the children when they aren't in court. Wendy slaved over a steady stream of infants and toddlers. Once they got old enough to have control of their bodily functions the fae whisked them off for whatever strange destinies awaited them, while Wendy watched in dismay and then went to clean up this morning's vomit or was handed a new little bundle of joy.

She learned quickly not to get too attached, and that the security was absurd and punishments were worse. She was given a little talent- extra empathy so she could sense the moods of her charges. Reading emotions allowed her to determine the difference between hunger, other discomfort, and tiredness. Gradually, this evolved, and Wendy realized after what felt like years that she could read the thoughts of the babies under her care. Sometimes, she could even change those thoughts, make a crying baby all smiles and laughs. She became known for her "magic" touch with children.

This eventually lead to her fight through the thorns. She was able to overhear the thoughts of the fae, and hiding near a door got her the password. She has vague memories of clutching an infant to her chest and running for days... a tall figure before her... her voice shouting "We were never here!"... more running... And Wendy eventually found herself in a world that was very definitely not 1982 (more like 2003).

The baby made it to a hospital (left on the steps like orphans of old), as a now seemingly twenty year old Wendy had no idea how to care for herself in this strange world, let alone another.

She found others, and the terrorist organization Never Again. So many children. So very, very many children are taken, and Wendy has a better idea than most of the sheer numbers.

She works (after receiving the training needed in this world) at a daycare, and is very watchful for changes in any of her charges.

She also works for Never Again, as the first defense against spies, betrayers to the fae, and investigative reporters. She reads minds, influences thoughts, and can gauge emotions. She had had some combat training, as all cell members have, but is most often used in interference raids as a soothing presence for the children who are rescued, and a numbing balm on their troubled thoughts.

Gamers like zombies.

Gamers like Fluxx.

Will gamers like Zombie Fluxx when it coems out this fall?

It think so. For a preview, go to the Looney Labs main page http://www.looneylabs.com/ and be sure it is for the week including today (05/02/2007).