Some of you may have already seen this.
I'm just going to leave this here, because it makes me happy.
Showing posts with label Music. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Music. Show all posts
20 August 2015
24 January 2015
[game report] Near-TPK
Game night tonight. 3.5 edition.
My 19th-level dwarven rogue and his companions found themselves trapped in a castle's inner room, one exit. Resurrected (and rescued) a cloud giant high priest whose skeleton we found shackled to the wall. However, we found ourselves facing a vampire (storm giant), 3 spectres (giants), 4 mummies (giants), and several other undead giants. Led from afar by a lich giant. We put ourselves under a shaped wall of force, but there was just enough space for the vampire to make his way through in cloud-form.
My character has nothing that could hit him as he was, so I spent most of the night readying an action. If I could get a shot at a physical attack, I could unleash some serious damage with my twin hand-axes.
The vampire finally re-manifested...but outside the dome. Our key tactical plan morphed: I would be teleported out from under our "dome of force" and unleash everything I had on him. Then we'd be teleported out of the castle. He was at near-full strength; I wasn't. But I was the only one that could touch him in melee at that point. So I took a deep breath; the sound of the All-Father's hammer was ringing through my mind.
Song lyrics came to mind:
I was ready to unleash, we were all ready to go. I was ready for the supreme sacrifice. The elf was ready to teleport us...and it fizzled. We were locked in place by a counter-spell.
OOPS.
That's when we saw TPK coming on the horizon. The only way out was to dispel the force wall and fight our way through to the door.
And THAT was when our other spell-caster remembered he had a miracle spell readied and a (hopefully) willing deity. One of the party cast a desperation destruction on the vampire--his last...which finally succeeded (try #3). That's what we wanted to accomplish before fleeing anyway--the vampire's dereat--so miracle was cast--successfully--and we were then able to teleport back to the cloud giant city from whence we set out.
Much rejoicing for our return, made even more special by returning the high priest back to his home. (Can you say XP and story points out the wazoo?)
One other high point: the shackled skeletal giant we found? Throw-away detail. DM had to quickly stat up an NPC to aid us. Our group LOVES to throw wrenches in the DMs works like this.
My character has nothing that could hit him as he was, so I spent most of the night readying an action. If I could get a shot at a physical attack, I could unleash some serious damage with my twin hand-axes.
The vampire finally re-manifested...but outside the dome. Our key tactical plan morphed: I would be teleported out from under our "dome of force" and unleash everything I had on him. Then we'd be teleported out of the castle. He was at near-full strength; I wasn't. But I was the only one that could touch him in melee at that point. So I took a deep breath; the sound of the All-Father's hammer was ringing through my mind.
Song lyrics came to mind:
I wake up in the mornin'Bon Jovi - Blaze Of Glory
And I raise my weary head
I got an old coat for a pillow
And the earth was last night's bed
I don't know where I'm goin'
Only God knows where I've been
I'm a devil on the run
A six gun lover
A candle in the wind, yeah
You're brought into this world
But they say you're born in sin
Well at least they've given me something
I didn't have to steal or have to win
Well, they tell me that I'm wanted
Yeah I'm a wanted man
I'm colt in your stable
I'm what Cain was to Able
Mister catch me if you can
I'm goin' down in a blaze of glory
(Down)
Take me now but know the truth
I'm goin' down in a blaze of glory
(Down)
Lord I never drew first
But I drew first blood
I'm no one's son.
Call me young gun
....
I was ready to unleash, we were all ready to go. I was ready for the supreme sacrifice. The elf was ready to teleport us...and it fizzled. We were locked in place by a counter-spell.
OOPS.
That's when we saw TPK coming on the horizon. The only way out was to dispel the force wall and fight our way through to the door.
And THAT was when our other spell-caster remembered he had a miracle spell readied and a (hopefully) willing deity. One of the party cast a desperation destruction on the vampire--his last...which finally succeeded (try #3). That's what we wanted to accomplish before fleeing anyway--the vampire's dereat--so miracle was cast--successfully--and we were then able to teleport back to the cloud giant city from whence we set out.
Much rejoicing for our return, made even more special by returning the high priest back to his home. (Can you say XP and story points out the wazoo?)
One other high point: the shackled skeletal giant we found? Throw-away detail. DM had to quickly stat up an NPC to aid us. Our group LOVES to throw wrenches in the DMs works like this.
23 February 2014
[D&D 40th Anniversary Bloghop] Day Twenty-three
Easy.
Hotel California, by the Eagles, 1977.
If you have to ask why... c'mon, have you never LISTENED to the lyrics? I know, I know, Don Henley has claimed that the song was an "interpretation of the high life in Los Angeles" and that "It's basically a song about the dark underbelly of the American dream and about excess in America." All that symbolism aside, I still say:
Why has no one written an adventure based on Hotel California?!?
Let's take a quick look at the obvious: you have an adventurer, traveling in the dark. He sees a light in the distance, and immediately becomes sleepy. We have a mysterious woman whose motives are unclear who welcomes him into the house by candlelight. Charm spell, anyone? Once inside, he hears voices. Ghosts? Undead? Captives? Minions? Who knows?
This mysterious woman--Tiffany--has a bunch of
Now, the idea that you entered the building willingly takes on a particularly dark and sinister note, doesn't it?
The hero asks for provisions, without any luck. And then, the voices come back, and loud enough to wake you up in the night. As you wander around investigating the building, you find garish, tacky, or out-of-date decor: mirrored ceilings, although despite the lyrics I always see them as a room of mirrors, like in the funhouse; fancy, cloying food and drink; and prisoners, but possibly willing prisoners. Maybe they're more thralls, maybe some of them are merely kept for occasional "snacks."
Then you find yourself in the "master's chambers." Perhaps Tiffany isn't the BBEG after all.... Whoever IS master, however, has a beast of some kind chained in his chambers. All of the thralls and his other subjects have gathered there for a ritual sacrifice: The Feast. No matter what they do to it, it will not die. Perhaps it's troll-kin. Perhaps they have a resident cleric who waits until the creature is on the verge of death and who then heals it back to normal. Whatever it is, the ritual is sufficient to cause the adventurer to run, nearly senseless, for the front door.
Only now he finds that there is no front door. The entire building is a trap. And the evil butler, himself likely a mid-level vampire, tells him that he can "check out" at any time, but cannot leave the building. He can die at any time, but he cannot escape.
Now you tell me.... Why would I possibly associate this song with D&D, hmmm? `
 |
| "Up ahead in the distance, I saw a shimmering light. My head grew heavy and my sight grew dim; I had to stop for the night." |
25 June 2012
Thinking of Dad
This month marks the first anniversary of my dad's passing. It's been a long year, full of pain and grief, but the time has flown by it seems.
James over at Dreams of Mythic Fanatay just lost his father. His post and this post by Tim over at Gothridge Manor got me thinking a bit more about my dad, especially his influence on my entertainment and gaming life. Dad passed just before Father's Day last year and it's taken me a few days to be able to write a companion post to my friends' posts.
My dad didn't approve of my RPG-ing. But he loved games. He and I had epic one-on-one Trivial Pursuit battles. He taught me how to play solitaire, hearts, and cribbage long before Windows decided to teach me. I think the last game I played with my father was one called "Exasperation"--a homemade version of "Aggravation" that my brother made in Shop class in the 1970s.
He never begrudged me a bit of graph paper, however. He was an engineer by trade and got the stuff free. He even brought home a huge desk-blotter pad of graph paper once, just to watch me fill it up with mazes and corridors. Dad didn't realize it, but he fed my dungeoneering hunger by taking us on yearly trips to Lehman Caves. I'd return home and sketch winding caverns and make ham-fisted attempts at drawing rock formations.
Then my parents fell prey to the "demon-worship, mind-control, it's-all-evil" Pulling propaganda of the mid-80s. Gaming stopped completely for over a decade under my parents' concerned and watchful eyes.
He was more tolerant of my gaming in later years. Once I was married, I suppose he had resigned himself to the fact that I was going to play whether they approved or not. He would sit, watching bemused as I painted miniatures in the corner of our time-share in the mountains, or as I idly sketched maps while watching videos or sports with him. I DID keep a secret from him; I cannot imagine what he would have thought, said, or done if he'd learned I had introduced his grandchildren to the hobby. His resigned ambivalence would never have extended that far.
All the game-playing with him petered out over the last year or so of his life. We just couldn't get him interested in playing--except for the aforementioned game of Aggravation. He played with me and two of my kids who took great delight in sending Grand's marbles back to home base.
Like with James, my father was also my main introduction to media, although with slightly different tastes. I can only presume my dad and James' dad did not share the same generation. My dad taught me to enjoy opera and the Tijuana Brass. Yeah, kinda square I know, but still.... He also introduced me to Robert Heinlein, Louis L'Amour, Wilber Smith, Michael Crichton, David Morrell. and ERB's Tarzan books. He was a voracious reader and instilled that in me.
He loved movies and introduced me to John Wayne, Jimmy Stewart, Lee Marvin, and Charles Bronson. While he could never understand my fascination with Fantasy, he loved Sci-fi. He and I would sneak away from my mother to watch any Sci-fi we could find...except for Star Wars. I think that got too close to fantasy for his liking.
Dad was a pilot as well as a Sci-fi fan. Together we watched the live television coverage of the first launch of the shuttle Columbia. I thrilled for him when he was able to be present at a live launch himself; he brought back fantastic photos and descriptions of the noise, colors, sights. He worked for years in the aerospace industry and shared with me (what he could) tidbits of what he was working on, as well as pictures and sketches of engines, rockets, etc.
I miss my dad greatly.... But I'm also immensely grateful for the things he shared with me, for the inspirations and fascinations he instilled in me. And for the excellent example of fatherhood that he was to me. There's a lot he did that I didn't realize or appreciate at the time...and I appreciate more and more as time passes.
James over at Dreams of Mythic Fanatay just lost his father. His post and this post by Tim over at Gothridge Manor got me thinking a bit more about my dad, especially his influence on my entertainment and gaming life. Dad passed just before Father's Day last year and it's taken me a few days to be able to write a companion post to my friends' posts.
My dad didn't approve of my RPG-ing. But he loved games. He and I had epic one-on-one Trivial Pursuit battles. He taught me how to play solitaire, hearts, and cribbage long before Windows decided to teach me. I think the last game I played with my father was one called "Exasperation"--a homemade version of "Aggravation" that my brother made in Shop class in the 1970s.
He never begrudged me a bit of graph paper, however. He was an engineer by trade and got the stuff free. He even brought home a huge desk-blotter pad of graph paper once, just to watch me fill it up with mazes and corridors. Dad didn't realize it, but he fed my dungeoneering hunger by taking us on yearly trips to Lehman Caves. I'd return home and sketch winding caverns and make ham-fisted attempts at drawing rock formations.
Then my parents fell prey to the "demon-worship, mind-control, it's-all-evil" Pulling propaganda of the mid-80s. Gaming stopped completely for over a decade under my parents' concerned and watchful eyes.
He was more tolerant of my gaming in later years. Once I was married, I suppose he had resigned himself to the fact that I was going to play whether they approved or not. He would sit, watching bemused as I painted miniatures in the corner of our time-share in the mountains, or as I idly sketched maps while watching videos or sports with him. I DID keep a secret from him; I cannot imagine what he would have thought, said, or done if he'd learned I had introduced his grandchildren to the hobby. His resigned ambivalence would never have extended that far.
All the game-playing with him petered out over the last year or so of his life. We just couldn't get him interested in playing--except for the aforementioned game of Aggravation. He played with me and two of my kids who took great delight in sending Grand's marbles back to home base.
Like with James, my father was also my main introduction to media, although with slightly different tastes. I can only presume my dad and James' dad did not share the same generation. My dad taught me to enjoy opera and the Tijuana Brass. Yeah, kinda square I know, but still.... He also introduced me to Robert Heinlein, Louis L'Amour, Wilber Smith, Michael Crichton, David Morrell. and ERB's Tarzan books. He was a voracious reader and instilled that in me.
He loved movies and introduced me to John Wayne, Jimmy Stewart, Lee Marvin, and Charles Bronson. While he could never understand my fascination with Fantasy, he loved Sci-fi. He and I would sneak away from my mother to watch any Sci-fi we could find...except for Star Wars. I think that got too close to fantasy for his liking.
Dad was a pilot as well as a Sci-fi fan. Together we watched the live television coverage of the first launch of the shuttle Columbia. I thrilled for him when he was able to be present at a live launch himself; he brought back fantastic photos and descriptions of the noise, colors, sights. He worked for years in the aerospace industry and shared with me (what he could) tidbits of what he was working on, as well as pictures and sketches of engines, rockets, etc.
I miss my dad greatly.... But I'm also immensely grateful for the things he shared with me, for the inspirations and fascinations he instilled in me. And for the excellent example of fatherhood that he was to me. There's a lot he did that I didn't realize or appreciate at the time...and I appreciate more and more as time passes.
08 March 2012
Food for the Muse
My boss is Old School.
I don't mean as a gamer. I mean he's from the Old School. He cannot listen to music while he is working and cannot multitask in any way. He absolutely cannot abide the fact that I can and will listen to music while I work. There is an immediate frown on his face when he walks into my office and music is playing, regardless of what kind of music.
On the other hand, I often find it impossible to work without music of some kind. My parents were much like my boss is now--they could not tolerate music playing while I was studying.
A Facebook post last week from an author-acquaintance of mine got me thinking; he asked what his friends liked to listen to while writing. He had his own list, a list that had some fairly predictable items on it for a SF&F author, including Lord of the Rings, Aliens and Braveheart; it also had some interesting items as well, such as There Shall Be Blood and [shudder] High School Musical.
And that's when I was able to put into words something I have known for years and years: Music is food for my Muse.
So I started looking at what I like to listen to while I work and write. As I started to catalogue it, I realized that much more of it was made up of soundtracks than I realized. This surprised me, simply because in my younger days I was quite selective about the soundtracks I purchased. It really had to speak to me and not just be "music from the movie." Until a few years ago, I believe I had less than ten soundtracks in my collection.
Most of the albums are on this list, primarily, I think, because (a) they have no words to distract or confound your own writing and thoughts and (b) they are at any given time dramatic, romantic, moody, joyful, triumphant, melancholy, epic, dynamic, and evocative. This is especially true of the soundtracks, of course.
Anyway, here is a list of what I like to listen to, or at least, what I've been listening to in the last 12 months. I'd like to see what you all feed your muse, or even IF you feed your muse. [Note: These are listed in alphabetical order, for ease of reference, rather than preference or any other method.]
I don't mean as a gamer. I mean he's from the Old School. He cannot listen to music while he is working and cannot multitask in any way. He absolutely cannot abide the fact that I can and will listen to music while I work. There is an immediate frown on his face when he walks into my office and music is playing, regardless of what kind of music.
On the other hand, I often find it impossible to work without music of some kind. My parents were much like my boss is now--they could not tolerate music playing while I was studying.
A Facebook post last week from an author-acquaintance of mine got me thinking; he asked what his friends liked to listen to while writing. He had his own list, a list that had some fairly predictable items on it for a SF&F author, including Lord of the Rings, Aliens and Braveheart; it also had some interesting items as well, such as There Shall Be Blood and [shudder] High School Musical.
And that's when I was able to put into words something I have known for years and years: Music is food for my Muse.
So I started looking at what I like to listen to while I work and write. As I started to catalogue it, I realized that much more of it was made up of soundtracks than I realized. This surprised me, simply because in my younger days I was quite selective about the soundtracks I purchased. It really had to speak to me and not just be "music from the movie." Until a few years ago, I believe I had less than ten soundtracks in my collection.
Most of the albums are on this list, primarily, I think, because (a) they have no words to distract or confound your own writing and thoughts and (b) they are at any given time dramatic, romantic, moody, joyful, triumphant, melancholy, epic, dynamic, and evocative. This is especially true of the soundtracks, of course.
Anyway, here is a list of what I like to listen to, or at least, what I've been listening to in the last 12 months. I'd like to see what you all feed your muse, or even IF you feed your muse. [Note: These are listed in alphabetical order, for ease of reference, rather than preference or any other method.]
- Soundtracks
- Dances with Wolves, by John Barry
- Doctor Who--Series 3, by Murray Gold
- The Wolfman, by Danny Elfman
- Braveheart, by James Horner
- The Dark Crystal, by Trevor Jones
- The Lord of The Rings, by Howard Shore
- Bladerunner, by Vangelis
- Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, by Various Artists
- X-Files: I Want to Believe, by Various Artists
- Apurimac, by Cusco
- One More Trip to Birdland, by Maynard Ferguson & Big Bop Nouveau
- The View From Here, by Matt Flinner
- Benny Goodman
- Peer Gynt, by Edvard Grieg
- Deep Breakfast, by Ray Lynch
- Canyon Trilogy, Vol. 5, by Carlos Nakai
- Phillips, Grier & Flinner, by Phillips, Grier & Flinner
- Practically anything by Midnight Syndicate
- Glenn Miller
- Practically anything by Nox Arcana
- Lord of the Rings: At Dawn in Rivendell, by the Tolkien Ensemble
- Caverna Magica, by Andreas Vollenweider
- Beneath the Raven Moon, by Mary Youngblood
---------------------------------------------------------------
Non-Soundtracks
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
