Raithe

I'd say that's pretty much of a non-entity beyond house rules. If you want an arcane caster with that whole force of personality behind his arcane might, you have the sorcerer. The wizard's use of spells is always about how smart they are. You can still put a high stat in charisma and then roleplay it out as being involved (especially if you're going for that enchanter/manipulative type) but it wouldn't have any mechanics effect on the way you cast spells.

Heya Raithe, I totally hear how life can completely get in the way of old school RPG! You said you picked up new books. For AD&D 2nd Ed? Heh, no, I think I've nearly got practically complete set of Ad&D 2nd edition stuff all stacked up.. I tend to pick up new books on fresh rpg's and such. Of late it's been more Shadowrun, M&M, Eclipse Phase, Pathfinder. I did go through a lot of WoD before the new edition. (I think if I put all my Vampire/Mage/Demon books on end I'd get a pile about 5 foot high). Fresh new worlds and settings that can be interesting to see how they've handled different issues, and see how they've approached similar mechanics in different ways.

Not to divert the thread from that topic.. But I woke up to yet more snowfall from some very weird and vivid dreams. Was that type where it's more the watcher of an old style 50's film rather then actually being in the dream myself. But some convoluted David Niven-esque character as an Angel taking a vacation on Earth, and somehow ending up as a kind of valet/manservant and super-nanny for a Navy Widow turned refined Pirate Queen and her kids in south-east asian waters.. and I have absolutely no bloody idea where that combination came from...

There were lots of good bits to it, I liked a fair chunk of the "Mat" sections, although apparently Brandon has a hard time writing the Mat parts. But I felt it actually helped show some of Mat's character development and growth with some of that change. Some of the death's almost felt as if they were put in just to say "yeah, even main characters can die" rather then actually needing them to be bumped off as part of the story. Maybe someone attempting to channel their inner "joss whedon".. The whole of the epilogue was apparently written by Jordan before he died, although it had a few bits changed by editing. It's one I think will have to be re-read a couple of times before I can fully decide how I really feel/think about the whole thing.

Heh, the family sort of inherited a zx81 from a cousin in the mid 80's, but the first computer that was really mine was an Amstrad 6128. 128k of ram, and it actually had a built in 3.5 inch floppy disk drive. Of course, at the time it was nearly impossible to find games and such on floppy disk so we still had to get an external tape deck to be able to play games on it... Then we managed to get an Ambra IBM compatible 286... which had a hard drive of about 20Megs. I can remember the expense of increasing the Ram on it so I could actually play Privateer when it came out...

How about "What you procrastinated from doing today?"

At least the animals seem to be enjoying the day....

Pondering on the fact that so far this year, I've been getting to sleep more often then not around the 3-4am mark, and then awake and dozing to fully conscious again around the 9-10am mark... I think I need to try getting my sleep patterns back into a more decent order. Also, it has snowed. Local traffic has been fairly gridlocked, and the dogs have been having silly fun with a garden covered in inches deep snow.

Just got back from town having picked up a new suit for the wedding. Probably spent more money then I should, but I got sucked into the Savoy Taylor's and dang it, it's a good suit with a great fit. And it works with both formal shoes and my snakeskin cowboy boots.....

I have to admit, I've definitely become a fan of both Pathfinder, and the Mutants & Masterminds 3e. M&M3e is just so flexible you can do whatever you want with it. Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Horror, Superhero, Cyberpunk, it's all easy to shift those descriptors and make it all work.

Heh, now consider that I've pretty much spent the last 10 plus years living with my parents as the primary carer for my mother... There are times when I'm the one talking to them as if they're kids. Especially when mom tries to do stuff she really shouldn't due to physical limitations and potential danger. It's that whole "Mother, just what do you think you're doing?" tone of voice. But at the same time, it gets flipped around and because I'm still living in "their" house, they can both act as if I never actually made it past 15. I mean, if I'm going out with friends I literally still get the barrage of questions of "Do you need a lift? Do you need money? What time will you be back? Where are you going?". And if she see's me going to walk the dogs whilst wearing ipod, I still get the whole style of "You be careful crossing roads wearing that, you won't hear things..." At the heart of it, I know it's pretty much parental concern, so I generally try to just let it roll off my back with a bit of a shrug and eyes tilted heavenward. So yes, I do get the feeling that they're never going to think of me as "grown up" at times. But that's probably parents in general for you.

And for the prospective of what 1.7 will be bringing to the game..

Just how many references can they slip in? http://youtu.be/aFj8eFZx-TA

Congrats on that Nep. Here's to a less annoying and not so personally stressful working environment. Of course, being in a 3 lawyer full service is going to be stress of a whole nother matter. But hopefully a better type of stress.. It be thunder and rain here all morning long. I took advantage of things to just pretty much stay in bed until noon. The last week has just been awkward , and it seems like the whole family is dealing with troubles focusing and mass procrastination on all sorts of things. Still haven't hear from someone I expected to over the christmas/new year period and I'm trying to juggle annoyance/worry over it. Pondering on when to poke that boundary and try to find out how they're doing. Which probably sounds odd, but it's a ..sort of complicated situation. Haven't even managed to sit down and seriously play any games on the pc lately. After about 15 minutes I'm just not engaging so I'm quitting out. And apart from A Memory of Light I haven't been able ot focus enough to read much the last week. Kind of been poking a bit at work, poking a bit at family matters, getting various errands sorted and half juggling attempts at reading things and catching up on tv shows that have been stacking up over the last year.

For the amusement value in the news... I have to admit, I like the White House response on this one. Cosmiclog - nbcnews: White House Thumbs Down on Death Star, Thumbs Up on Space TheForce.Net - White House Responds to Death Star Petition

Was having some weird frakking dreams. Then kind of half woke up, but kept dozing in and out to more weird dreams. Finally managed to push into consciousness and get up to a slow, grinding headache. This looks like a good start to the day....

Struggled with procrastination through most of the day so far... hm, and I really need to get the forms sorted to renew my passport soon.

A Memory of Light. The 14th and final book in the Wheel of Time series. 2.5 lbs of hardback, 900+ pages. Arrived about 1pm, and with assorted bits and pieces of real life that interupted or had to be dealt with I basically read through it all and just finished it off about 10 minutes ago (so, just gone 10pm). Not too badly done. Some nice conclusions to events for various characters, some that were surprising. It's interesting to see all the elements of foreshadowing things that did happen were actually in the previous books. Although I'm not quite sure what to make of the epilogue. I'll have to let it simmer and lurk in my brain a bit. Possibly wait until I re-read it.

Condolences WD. Well I got about 5 hours sleep, poking at various tasks today. Should have another look at the paperwork for renewing my passport. Got some emails from the groom about the suits he wants to get us all wearing for his wedding. As best man I kind of have to match, so.. he's talking about getting some "western style/ semi-cowboy" formal suits made to order in Mexico city from some place near his fiancee's family, then going in to get any final adjustments made a few days before the wedding. I've been skipping the "learn spanish cd's" the past couple of weeks over christmas, so I guess I should get back to them. That and I need to write my best man's speech out sooner rather then later, so I can get that translated into spanish and learn that.. Dang, time flies past. Hm, waiting on Parcel Force to arrive with my copy of the final WoT book. They left the depot around 0430..and they still haven't turned up here at noon.

I have to admit, there's a turkish kebab shop in the village that serves a "Super-Burger". 3/4 lbs of meat, finely sliced cheese, pickles, lettuce, tomato, onion, and your choice of relish/mayo etc sauces.... It is.. superb (if artery choking).

Guns, Girls and Gambling One of those Christian Slater straight to dvd type movies. He looks like he's having fun with it. A tongue-in-cheek "mistaken identity, everyone thinks I have something and is trying to kill me" action-comedy films with a few twists. But yes, if you have Native Americans, an Indian Indian (From India), Jeff Fahey as "The Cowboy", Elvis Impersonators - Gay Elvis, Midget Elvis, Asian Elvis, and Elvis Elvis (played by Gary Oldman), corrupt Sherrifs, Powers Boothe as "The Rancher", a Prostitute, a 6' blonde assassin, and a frat boy, all wound up in a story involving a priceless Native American artifact stolen from a Casino on a reservation.. Nothing too stunning or brilliant, but generally amusing and entertaining.