A couple of things...

[gridlore]

• The biopsy, take 2, has been scheduled for next Monday.


• It was funny speaking with the scheduler. The appointment is an exact duplicate of the last one.


• So I still had all the information written down in front of me.


• I had to keep telling her that this was a second procedure, and I knew the rules.


• Hopefully, this time they'll hit lymph node.


• Other than that, I'm wandering between just feeling dragged out and outright miserable.


• There is something wrong, that's certain. It's just figuring out what at this point.


• A question for the local gamers (here he goes again.) How many of you have heard of the Pathfinder RPG?


• Described as "D&D 3.75" it was produced by Pazio after WotC dumped their support companies and came out with D&D4e


• I liked D&D3e, and have heard incredible things about Pathfinder.


• I really want to run a game again.


• I'm thinking of a Lost World/Cities of Mystery style campaign set in the Caribbean and Central/South America...800 years after scattered bands of dwarf and elf refugees fled a magical disaster and a century after the Genoese Navigator-Mage Christoffa Corombo managed to break the spell that blocked passage across the Atlantic.


• Yes, Elvish Pirates of the Caribbean!


• Just watched two hours of Pawn Stars on Lifetime. I love that show.


• These days I hardly watch any scripted shows at all. I'm all about things like Top Chef, Tabitha's Salon Takeover and other reality and semi-reality shows.


• Mainly because most television is crap.


• An unexpected present arrived today. Thanks mikkop, I can hardly wait to see what it is!


• I refuse to believe that after winning the World Series the Giants open 2011 with a five-game road trip. That's just not right!


• Am I the only person on Earth who is kept awake by vicodin?


• Terrifyingly, the 49ers are still alive in the race to win the NFC West.


• The Niners are 5-9. And one game back of the division "leaders."


• If they win their final two while the two teams currently sharing the lead lose one each...


• Wow. We're meat in the playoffs, and the whole thing shows just how bad the NFC West is, but it could happen.

Comments

[kengr]

Am I the only person on Earth who is kept awake by vicodin?

I vaguely recall that while they are uncommon there are *two* relatively "standard" idiosyncratic reactions to morphine and its derivatives:

The "dog" reaction (sick as a dog) and the "cat" reaction (jumpy as a cat).

Sounds like you are a "cat" reaction.

Not guaranteeing my memory on this, but you might want to big it up with your doc. It might be important in deciding what drugs to give you in the future.

[caraig.livejournal.com]

I'm sort of familiar with Pathfinder. It's basicaly where Paizo picked up 3.5 and ran hell-bent-for-leather with it. Some very good changes to it, from what I've heard -- classes are more fun, they're not as 'stale.' I've never been fond of the feat system, but they do fix some issues I've had with it so that's a plus. In all, it's a good class-level system. I'd be down. =)

[claidheamhmor]

I'm running a Pathfinder campaign; I made a mention of it here. I'm still impressed; it's essentially D&D, unlike 4th Ed., but refined and much better presented.

[seawasp]

I'm on the RPG usenet groups so I watched the emergence of Pathfinder. I worked on the original playtest before release of 3e, too. I haven't BOUGHT Pathfinder because I already have 3e material galore and if I want to run a D&D game that's the version I'd use.

I'll play Captain Jack Sparrow! ("Remember the 'Captain', mate.")

[gridlore.livejournal.com]

Ah, but is your Captain Human, Elf, or Half-Elf?

[seawasp]

I dunno, I can figure it several ways. If most of the Pirates are Elven, he'd almost HAVE to be Human, the odd-man-out who somehow keeps becoming a thorn in the side to everyone around him. Crazy enough to think he can get away with annoying immortals, and good enough to actually DO it.

Sparrow's an interesting character study (at least through the first three movies; they could Flanderize him too much in this next one, but we'll see); he puts up a front of being a classic (TOO classic) ruthless pirate, but his real motivations seem to have almost nothing to do with money, power, or anything but freedom -- freedom to go where he wants and not to worry -- and, when he's backed in a corner and can't pretend any more, to protect the people he cares about.

[jilesa.livejournal.com]

Not local, but I've played using the Pathfinder Beta rules. There were things about it that I liked very much as a player, but never in a million years would I DM a Pathfinder game, because I saw how much time and energy it took for our DM to put stuff together for us. If you have a DM with the time to spare who doesn't mind the complexity of the system, though, it makes for a fun game for the players.

[seawasp]

Hm. Unless Pathfinder is almost 100% NOT like 3.5 (which I kinda doubt, given that almost everyone I've talked to says it's just a BETTER 3.5), it's not nearly that complex. It's not the SIMPLEST system I've played in, but it's a long, long, long way from being very complex. It's no Rolemaster, that's for sure.

[jilesa.livejournal.com]

I suppose it's a relative thing. :) It seemed damned complex to me, but I was coming to it after a 20 year hiatus from gaming, and the games I'd played before that were 2nd ed. D&D, MechWarrior/Battletech, Star Wars, and... uh... some superhero game with a name I don't remember. We started that campaign in 3.5, and transitioned to Pathfinder Beta as those rules were released, so I could see that it was making some good changes from 3.5, but it still seemed pretty complex for our DM to keep all the moving parts balanced.

The only system I've GM'd was 4th edition D&D, and the only reason I was willing to consider DMing that campaign is because it looked way simpler to design NPCs, monsters, and encounters than in 3.5/Pathfinder. If I'm going to DM, I have limited time to put together the adventures, and I'd rather focus on story, plot, and setting details than on mechanics, but that's just a personal preference. :)

[jemstone.livejournal.com]

I'm very familiar with Pathfinder, having been playing a Wizard under the system for over a year, now. It's a very much refined version of the OGL 3.5 rules - calling it 3.75 is an apt description.

There are a lot of things that I would have changed - for instance they had the ability to do away with some sacred cows that have been dragging the game down for ages (spells per day, anyone?), but what they DID get rid of and what they brought in to replace it (a unified mechanic for dealing with unarmed combat maneuvers, for instance) is good and adds to the game instead of merely filling a gap.

I'd agree with previous comments that the classes aren't stale any more, but some were clearly favored by the designers over others during the writing of the book. Barbarian, for instance, seems to almost be an overcompensation in its base form from what it once was. Wizards are now a lot more enticing to play, but are still overshadowed in the flexibility and raw power department by Sorcerer's. (I don't care what anyone says - being able to throw any of your spells when needed rather than a select list of spells automatically increases situational flexibility, regardless of whether or not the Wizard has an "unlimited" number of spells known... if he's got no combat spells prepped, and gets jumped by an Umber Hulk, he's toast. The Sorcerer just tosses the most situation-appropriate spell and high-tails it...) Rogues remain fantastic. Fighters get a much, much needed revisiting, making them once again the baddest things in plate armor, and actually *gasp* allowing for more options in combat beyond "Power Attack. Cleave. Power Attack. Cleave. Attack Of Opportunity. Cleave."

The Player's Handbook for Pathfinder literally contains EVERYTHING that a player will need - including treasure, magic item creation rules, and things like impairment conditions, situational combat rules, and the like. It's rather large - the more experienced players in our group have likened it to FRED, but it's worth it.

[melchar.livejournal.com]

I get nothing from vicodin - no effects. Sigh. No can haz painkillers that work on me.

I agree about the TV - news, mythbusters, Daily Show, Colbert & Craig Ferguson show are worth watching.

And I'm going to be reffing a new game system online - Savage Worlds with a 'World of Soloman Kane' setting. ^_^