Hack For More

WEEK 36: 02/15/05

We gathered for the first time at a new venue: Seth's spacious condo in Evanston, as Erich is in the process of a move to Roger's Park, one of the less grotty of the ring of cities that encircle Chicago like ringworm on the arm of a leper.

I've been reading up on zombies. Can you tell?

At any rate, the shift to Evanston (for those of you not from northern Illinois---lucky bastards---Evanston is a hip, happening college town on the outskirts of Chicago that is home to Northwestern University, the closest the Midwest comes to a prestigious college) was billed as being more convenient for everyone. Since Laura and I both live in Waukegan, forty miles away, it seems more likely that it's the same amount of inconvenience, but experienced by different people. To be fair, Seth (and Erich before him) bought all the soda, and my consumption of Dr. Pepper can reach epic proportions, especially when I'm frustrated.

Gentle reader(s?), I was frustrated.

The session itself was...okay. I guess. The players were funny, and it was good to see everyone after a mother-in-law-induced hiatus of several weeks, but my GMing was off. I'm not very good at conveying the horror of a passel of zombies, which is a shame, because we wrapped up the adventure at the last moment, and I've been re-reading All Flesh Must Be Eaten, one of the best ideas tied to one of the worst systems ever.

Wrapping up the adventure was one of my worst moments. Walt, in his last column talks about how it's kind of hollow to let the PCs win no matter what, and I was all like: "yeah! Yeah! I never thought about it before, really!" This is because I have no brain.

I therefore determined that I would "let the dice fall where they might" during the session, but this ignored the fact that I'd been blatantly screwing everyone around before this, so that suddenly shifting to a very strict way of running the game would result in horrid maiming. If not for the PCs alone, then also for me. Seth's condo is huge, they could hide my body anywhere.

So I wussed out and had a gunboat save the PCs, leaving a huge mess of a messness behind them, and the rainforests of Brazil are still infested with the undead in that campaign, and Erich's character's terminal illness flaw will mean he'll die before his leg heals up and Seth's character was in a bad way and is that zombie bite on Laura's arm infected? Oh, wait. That last one wasn't in the game. That was real life. Poor Laura.

Anyway, I've got a one-shot planned for this week, with pre-generated characters, and everything. This time, it'll work. And I'll tell lots of family members where I'm going, so the authorities can find my body.

Oh Man A List Where People Say Clever Things

Seth: Calibur, schmalibur.
Ed [frostily]: I love that kind of detail.

Laura: The South will rise again and it will shamble and eat other things.

Laura: He can beat ineffectually against my whalebone if he wants to.
Erich: Oh, if I had a nickel...

Ed: Thank you Seth, you touched us all.
Erich: In inappropriate places.
Seth [going the extra mile]: Ah, just like a real Catholic, then.

Topics	Author	Date	Latest Reply
Thank you Ed (1) new	RL	03-22-2005 18:06	03-22-2005 18:06 new
Good Luck and God Bless (1) new	Walt C	03-17-2005 16:44	03-17-2005 16:44 new
FINISH IT! (7) new	[]D [] []\/[] []D	03-17-2005 16:21	03-30-2005 21:28 new
To a Good Bloke (1) new	Jethrow	03-16-2005 21:51	03-16-2005 21:51 new
To one of my favourite columnists (1) new	nihtgenga	03-16-2005 18:39	03-16-2005 18:39 new
Understand & Hope (1) new	Magickone	03-16-2005 10:39	03-16-2005 10:39 new
Good luck & best wishes. (12) new	Jonathan	03-15-2005 07:16	03-16-2005 07:22 new
... just like a real Catholic... (1) new	No2	02-22-2005 14:00	02-22-2005 14:00 new
...you already said that... (2) new	Ian Sokoliwski	02-22-2005 13:36	02-23-2005 06:20 new
A Machine in Search of a Mission (1) new	Ian Sokoliwski	02-14-2005 22:21	02-14-2005 22:21 new
Sorry Ed (36) new	Charlie Dunwoody	02-09-2005 12:59	02-01-2006 02:58 new
Sorry Ed (32) new	Charlie Dunwoody	02-09-2005 12:51	01-30-2006 23:37 new
A few (well lots of) remarks (13) new	Grop	02-09-2005 06:23	02-12-2005 05:22 new
Go to hell (25) new	Charlie Dunwoody	02-09-2005 04:36	04-28-2005 23:58 new
It's like school, only it's not ... (5) new	Ian Sokoliwski	02-08-2005 09:41	02-10-2005 08:50 new
V-day 'projects' (2) new	NotMousse	02-02-2005 01:38	02-02-2005 09:30 new
Let's help with column ideas :) (3) new	Ian Sokoliwski	02-01-2005 23:18	02-02-2005 09:27 new
'Huge Zombie Tank Farm' (6) new	Ian Sokoliwski	01-25-2005 18:42	01-27-2005 08:07 new
Meet the Characters! (1) new	Laura	01-19-2005 09:47	01-19-2005 09:47 new
Why so worked up about a good session? (4) new	Ryan	01-11-2005 13:00	01-12-2005 08:38 new

Hack For More

WEEK 36: 02/15/05

Hack For More

WEEK 36: 02/15/05

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Hack For More WEEK 36: 02/15/05 by Ed McEneely Feb 22,2005	Hack For More WEEK 36: 02/15/05 We gathered for the first time at a new venue: Seth's spacious condo in Evanston, as Erich is in the process of a move to Roger's Park, one of the less grotty of the ring of cities that encircle Chicago like ringworm on the arm of a leper. I've been reading up on zombies. Can you tell? At any rate, the shift to Evanston (for those of you not from northern Illinois---lucky bastards---Evanston is a hip, happening college town on the outskirts of Chicago that is home to Northwestern University, the closest the Midwest comes to a prestigious college) was billed as being more convenient for everyone. Since Laura and I both live in Waukegan, forty miles away, it seems more likely that it's the same amount of inconvenience, but experienced by different people. To be fair, Seth (and Erich before him) bought all the soda, and my consumption of Dr. Pepper can reach epic proportions, especially when I'm frustrated. Gentle reader(s?), I was frustrated. The session itself was...okay. I guess. The players were funny, and it was good to see everyone after a mother-in-law-induced hiatus of several weeks, but my GMing was off. I'm not very good at conveying the horror of a passel of zombies, which is a shame, because we wrapped up the adventure at the last moment, and I've been re-reading All Flesh Must Be Eaten, one of the best ideas tied to one of the worst systems ever. Wrapping up the adventure was one of my worst moments. Walt, in his last column talks about how it's kind of hollow to let the PCs win no matter what, and I was all like: "yeah! Yeah! I never thought about it before, really!" This is because I have no brain. I therefore determined that I would "let the dice fall where they might" during the session, but this ignored the fact that I'd been blatantly screwing everyone around before this, so that suddenly shifting to a very strict way of running the game would result in horrid maiming. If not for the PCs alone, then also for me. Seth's condo is huge, they could hide my body anywhere. So I wussed out and had a gunboat save the PCs, leaving a huge mess of a messness behind them, and the rainforests of Brazil are still infested with the undead in that campaign, and Erich's character's terminal illness flaw will mean he'll die before his leg heals up and Seth's character was in a bad way and is that zombie bite on Laura's arm infected? Oh, wait. That last one wasn't in the game. That was real life. Poor Laura. Anyway, I've got a one-shot planned for this week, with pre-generated characters, and everything. This time, it'll work. And I'll tell lots of family members where I'm going, so the authorities can find my body. Oh Man A List Where People Say Clever Things Seth: Calibur, schmalibur. Ed [frostily]: I love that kind of detail. Laura: The South will rise again and it will shamble and eat other things. Laura: He can beat ineffectually against my whalebone if he wants to. Erich: Oh, if I had a nickel... Ed: Thank you Seth, you touched us all. Erich: In inappropriate places. Seth [going the extra mile]: Ah, just like a real Catholic, then.