2013 Totals

2013 is now a cold corpse, receding in the distance as we journey onward on horseback. I was doing some book-keeping/house-cleaning in the Stronghold and noticed that my "2013 Totals" table (on the sidebar) had not been updated since mid-June 2013. I also noticed that my "Year-To-Date Acquisitions" page had suffered in limbo since July 18, 2013.

So...I have no idea how my totals compared to 2012. But, I think I can be excused, seeing as how I purchased a law firm and became a self-employed small-business owner around the time that I stopped keeping track of my gaming milestones.

I'm going to try and do better this year. I make no promises; of course, I have no idea if any of you care about my self-congratulatory totals and inventories. If you do, then accept my promise in good faith. If not, continue to ignore my tallies.

One thing I think I will have to do is refrain from including links to products on my "Acquisitions" page. That alone was sufficiently time-consuming (between link-searching and coding) that it made updating the page a chore. Shopping sprees of free items on DriveThru RPG and similar sites also made upkeep generally confusing and frustrating, especially when you add in the afore-mentioned link-searching and coding.

As far as the biggies--Miniatures and Dice--I have found a rough estimate, made as of about mid-November: 125 miniatures and 33 dice. There were probably a few more before the end of the year, but that looks pretty good. I also hereby declare 2014 to be the year of the dice, apparently, as I've already doubled my total dice purchases for last year...I'm at 70 right now, after a mail delivery today.

I know I said this last year, but I'm going to shoot for some increased blogging. 2013 was a year of stress and frustration, both on a personal and professional level, even more so than 2012. I've already endured health issues, family issues, and financial issues and it shows no signs of slowing down. As always, though, the hobby and the friendships made through the hobby helped make it survivable.

Everyone join me in a toast: raise your dice cups high and keep them d20s dry. Here's to 2014!

[A to Z April] M is for Myth Voice (feat)

“What exactly is he doing?” the dwarf whispered to the halfling.

“Shhh. Oh...that’s right. You’ve never seen this, have you? Well, just watch, Alakin. Noatil may not have a lot going for him, but he has his high points.”

“High points? What do you mean, Shiloru?”

“I said just watch.” She nodded her head toward the tall human male as she stuck her fingers in her ears.

Noatil crept forward slowly toward the band of orcs. He began to chant something; Alakin realized it was in Orcish. The human was speaking to the beasts in their own tongue and was speaking words of calming and peace. Alakin shook his head: there were very few words of calming and peace in the language as it was, and they weren’t well known. The six beasts–each one uglier than the last–jumped to their feet at the sound of his voice. Then they stopped. And they listened.

So did Alakin. There was something...odd...about Noatil’s voice. First, it was deeper. But that wasn’t all; there was a different quality. It wasn’t a vibrato, it wasn’t an echo.... It was just...different, somehow. More forceful, more powerful, filled with authority. The orcs began to nod and then slowly turned and started to walk away from Noatil. Alakin felt a hand grab his and pull hard. He looked down and saw his hand in Shiloru’s; that was when he realized that he had started to follow the orcs as they walked away. He looked at the halfling, his eyes wide. Whatever it was about Noatil’s voice had affected him as well. “What a dangerous power to face,” he thought.

Almost as if she had read his mind, Shiloru smiled and nodded. “That’s why...with the fingers,” she said, sticking her fingers in her ears again and then removing them.

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Myth Voice, Lesser [General]
You have learned the manner of speaking used by ancient epic poets and use it to enhance the effects of your vocal powers.

Prerequisite: Bard; ability to inspire competence
Benefit: Adds a +2 to a Perform check for purposes of countersong, distraction, and versatile performance. The effect also adds a +1 to the DC for purposes of fascinate, suggestion, frightening tune, mass suggestion, and deadly performance In addition, it wil reduce the time necessary for an effective soothing performance by 1 round.

Myth Voice, Greater [General]
You have honed your vocal skills and uncovered many of the ancient poets’ secrets.

Prerequisite: Myth voice, ability to inspire greatness
Benefit: As with myth voice but grants an additional +2 to the Perform check, an additional +1 to the DC, and reduces soothing performance by an additional round. These modifiers are cumulative with those granted by myth voice, lesser.

**Many thanks to my buddy Simonathi Starym for a bit of game testing.


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Last year's "M": M is for Maerl Dardar
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