Devious Schemes and the Dark Side

Guys I want to start this off with just a little exciting "announcement"....there are only a few more days until Halloween!!  So besides Christmas, Halloween is pretty much my favourite holiday and so I am just the tiniest bit excited for this Thursday.  Also what makes it more exciting is I will be going to Chicago to see some of my very best friends, which is shaping up to be the best Halloween ever.  I have my costume all made up for Thursday night (I am doing Korra and a friend is going as Bolin) and then on Friday I am trying to do something a that is relatively easy (I am thinking Sith or something like that).  In any case, I will have pictures galore and will probably post a few.  So how about we get on to the bulk of the post-my most recent Star Wars game....

Sunday was my alternating week for games, so I had Star Wars and it was a good game guys.  Sometimes I don't realize really how good games were until I talk about them with my friends afterwards.  Usually my next Monday is spent talking with a friend who is a player in this game and my DM in my D&D game, about everything that happened, what our plans are for the next level, and what plots and schemes we have in the works.  This Sunday's game was that type of game-really not that much happened (well I mean besides saving the next queen of Hapes-but I'll get to that later), but there was so much development in some character relations that it made the game really more dynamic. 

Here is a "quick" rundown of what actually happened in our game.  I would like to give the caveat before that we are breaking canon and rewriting the story and let me tell you, our game would make a GREAT episode 7 (although it takes place during the first three).  Our story opens with our characters and the other people on the ship (Obi Wan, Olin, Reyas, Tryss, Gannis, and some Sith prisoner we have) and we are on our way to Hutt Space for a mission.  Obi Wan gets all uppity and says he and Reyas (who is his son) need to leave and to dock and a specific trading station.  So we do that, Flynn (who is my friend's character) tries to get the Sith to stay with us under his control, she objects and leaves on the station.  While we are on the station selling our stuff from last session, we are jumped by 2 other Sith Lords and we manage to keep one alive and take back to the ship. 

After finishing up on the trading station we take back to our prisoner to the ship and start talking to her about what she knows and where the rest of the Sith are located.  After we get the information out of her, we head our course for Tatooine and then slave auction there.  Once we get there, we have some time to kill and so we get to just do whatever (it's really the first chance our characters have had to have any "fun"), so my character heads out with Master Olin, who is in command, to the bars to experience the "high-brow" bar setting of smugglers, thieves, and slavers.  Really it was a lot of fun and gave my character a chance to flirt with him-which will be important later.

The next day we all go to the slave auction to apparently "finish" our mission.  There we are supposed to buy the next Queen Mother of Hapes, but not before we have to watch some poor younglings get auctioned off....guys, I have to tell you, I hate kids, but it this was pretty sad.  Once the younglings have sold, the girl that we have been waiting for comes out, the bidding starts and goes on for a while, and then we (well one party member) decides to start shit with the 4 Sith that are hanging out around with us.  Eventually, as with all games, a fight ensues and we end up murdering the shit out the Sith.  It's really fantastic Sith killing, just combat in general is fantastic in Star Wars because on average I do about 40-50 damage per hit and I can use a Force Power and hit twice...soooo nice!  After the fight we grab the girl, head back to the ship, and get the f out of town.

So like I said, really not that much happened in the actual game, but the schemes that were laid, the conversations had, really make this game important.  My character has been searching for her "dead", now Sith Lord, old master and in the meantime, Flynn has been letting her so that he can eventually kill him.  My character starts a relationship with the commanding officer on board so that she can use him to get what she needs and just to have around as a good "bodyguard".  This is the very basic explanation of the scheme-y plots, but they can be total game changers should they work out how they are planned.  It's really going to be a race to see who can accomplish what first to see who "wins". 

Which comes to the next part of the title, relating to the Dark Side...our DM has made it clear that we can turn to the Dark Side.  We don't have to stay Jedi and it's not a game ender should we fall.   I find this really interesting in a game, because normally if you change alignments, it's a pretty big deal.  So to have the option to do so is very tempting.  I haven't decided how to take things and as of right now my character is not a Sith, but depending on how things esclate with our missions and the story, it might happen.  The devious part of me would love to just corrupt everyone and have them all turn to the Dark Side...who knows, my character can be very persuasive....

Hey YOU!! Yeah YOU!!

As most of you intelligent and I am sure beautiful readers will notice, I have a changed things a bit on my blog.  Well I want YOUR input, I am thinking of adding videos, more blog posts, reviews, and hopefully some other stuff.  So I am asking you guys, what do you like in blogs? What do you like here? What would want to see more of here?!  Let me know (oh God please be nice though!!) and I will try to make it more interesting and catered towards what you guys want!

Give me the Bad Touch....

Oh why hi there...didn't see you come by.  Yes yes do come in, have a seat, relax, and I'll get the tea started.  In the meantime I am sure you came to chat about the games I have had recently, so let's discuss these games I have had the past week.

Sunday game (i.e. Eberron DnD with my fantastic lich alchemist) was great this week.  Well great in that last time we leveled I was able to take Improved Paralysis, so now the DC for my "bad touch" (paralysis) is a rocking 29...oh yeah this is at level 8 also, so suck it BBEGs.  It really came in handy this past game and was super effective against the frost giants and blue dragons that we fought.  Oh yeah guys I forgot to also mention, since my character is from Karrnath and LOVES the undead, I am starting to form my own undead army.  I have made one Karrnath Deathless Zombie so far, which I love, he is sassy and fantastic and will make a great cohort once I can up his stats.  After this last battle though, I might be a little more excited because I will not only be controlling just a "normal" zombie, but also have TWO adult blue dragons under my control.  Guys, it was a good day for zombie making.  So those were the highlights of the game for my character on the positive side.  So since I am a lich and don't sleep, I do spend about 8 hours scheming, which really is only the responsible thing when you have so much free time.  So my scheme recently has been getting back to Karrnath, killing the king, and then taking over the country with my own undead army and having vast lands and spaces to let them all roam and do my bidding.  Pretty much I am a power hungry lich who wants to be a bad ass...and I don't really think anyone can fault me.  I mean I would be a bomb ass ruler-I never die, if I do, I just come back in d10 days....I would also be fantastic because she's hot guys-I mean like a 30 CHA hot, so yeah who doesn't want a hot ruler.  Now I know you might be thinking "well what do you stand for? What are your core ruling values?  Will you be fair, magnanimous?" well all those things will get figured out eventually, trivial matters really.  The whole point of this rambling was that, those were my schemes, and now another PC is encroaching on them!!  Which really for my character isn't a big deal, it the one PC that she has a romantic relationship with that is wanting to take over Karrnath, but it's still the principle of the matter!  I know I can't go CE and just use the whole party to get him to be ruler of Karrnath and then kill them all...although in my devious mind that is perfect and fantastic and I want to do that so bad, so back to the scheming board to find something else out.

Sunday game 2 (Star Wars), so this Sunday I play this game and I am torn on what to do.  Last game we sort of had a "coming to Jesus" talk about my character and her relationship with her old master, who is now an amazing Sith Lord, (I mean how can a girl resist that?!  Am I right ladies?!) and what that relationship means in terms of putting the whole of the Jedi population in danger.  To be honest, I think they were exaggerating just a bit...I mean the WHOLE Jedi population?  Probably just our group...but that does include Obi, so probably not  the best idea.  Anyway, all that will get sorted out soon enough.  SOON.  Oh yeah, I don't know if you guys caught that, but my character is pal-ing around with Obi-fucking-Kenobi, no big deal or anything.  I find myself fangirling out all the time (yes I know it is not a real game, but still I am excited about it okay?!) about the fact that on the regular we hang out with Obi.  I mean he stays on the ship with us, fights with us, enlightens us...it's really great guys. But all in all that is the highlight of the Star Wars game, I am sure though after this Sunday I will have many more fangirl moments and exciting tales to tell.

Wednesday game:  This is a new game we just started playing last night.  For this character I am using Lucan who is an 18th level Elf Ranger.  He is fantastic and based off one of my favourite podcasts (Drunks and Dragons-website here), Lucan the foul-mouthed elf.  I was thinking this would be easier to play, but am finding that I need to figure out some motivations for him-so props to Thrifty for playing him so well.  I have no doubts though that I will get him all figured out in a few games. I think that just comes with playing new characters in general, having to get your footing for their motivations and personality (see previous post for the deep shit).

Well friend, it seems the tea has finished, the crumpets are gone, and I must shoo you away for I have things to prepare, quests to adventure, and characters to level.  Till the next time you find yourself in my little nerd cave, I wish you nat 20s and may all your crits confirm!

Friendly Reminder

Guys I have to tell you, I am still here and gaming and very much invested in this blog!!  I promise I won't let go....like the last three times (whatever get off my back about that, I said I was sorry!).  Anyway this is just a teaser post....I have some awful test for work that I have been studying for, but next Monday it will all be over and I will be able to blog for you.  Since the wait has been awful, I will have not one, not two, BUT THREE games to tell you all about. So buy some adult diapers and get ready to piss yourselves from excitement....

Sacrificing Self: How Far are YOU willing to go?

Let me start this off by saying this isn't a self-help post.  I really don't think that I am in any situation to give personal advice to anyone about shit like that and I highly doubt anyone would want to listen to it.  (Don't get me wrong, I can listen to problems and give my opinion, but really not advice enough to warrant a self-help blog).  This is mostly about character motivations in games.  What is your character willing to live for, die for, or kill for?  How far will you go to complete what you are wanting to do.  I think whether or not you admit it, every character has these questions that you have to ask yourself as the player (albeit they don't have to be exactly hammered out and can just be a floating idea) in order to figure out what to do in certain situations.  In my Star Wars game and in a new game (WOD-World of Darkness) that I am playing, I have recently found myself needing to answer these questions; so let's dive right in shall we?

First, the Star Wars games:  as I have mentioned previously, my character in this game is basically a Sith Hunter who just found out that her Jedi Master that she thought was dead is really alive and a Sith Lord, as is her fellow apprentice who is turning to the darkside.  Throughout the whole game so far we have been dealing with the fallout of Order 66 and she has been trying to connect with the other apprentice the whole time.  Finally she does and figures out where they are and then the whole group is captured by Sith, where she thinks she has finally found him.  Turns out him and part of the party is forever away in the Hutt region of space and so after hijacking a small customized star destoryer, her and her companions travel out to rescue their comrades.  That's not completely the end of the story, but I am going to tie it all in at the end-just trust me.

Second is the WOD game that I just played last night.  This is my first time playing in this world and completely new system and I was not disappointed.  The whole thing with WOD is that the darkness and horrors of what lives in your nightmares is actually real and can/will murder the fuck out you.  My character is a dude-but really feels like probably playing the closest to myself as I have in a long while (no I am not a dude, just personality wise there are some close similarities). Anyway, we started the game out as humans and then through a brutal and vicious werewolf attack, my character is killed and then turned into a vampire.  We haven't really delved too much more into that world, but already from what I have played, it is very clear that the game focuses how you change the world, how what happens changes you, and to what extremes are you willing to go to get what you want.

So this leads me back to the title of my post.  As a player I am finding myself needing to answer the questions of what will my characters do?  How far will they go?  What will their motivations be? Tough questions my friend, tough questions.  But I think that in doing so it will make for stronger characters and hopefully give me a bit more direction and firm groundings in the decisions I make for my characters.

PS. I am going to apologize for the overall theme of this post.  One it took me pretty much all day to finish, so if it doesn't make sense-keep that to yourself sass pants, I would like to see you do better.  Two, this isn't particularly a super fun post, but something that I was thinking about since I have some fairly "serious" (for my characters at least) shit that has happened in recent games.  I promise though next time it will be better....you my readers are my motivation. :)