What happened to the last 9 years…

It seems that someone updated their database and had an issue. And then didn’t pay attention to the date on the files to do a restore from.

So to sum up the missing information; We had a son. We play a lot of board games. The Flaming Qiviuts have lost and gained a few members. A lot of the technology has updated and I am upgrading things more and more.

The Gamers: Hands of Fate

We just got done watching the new Gamers movie. It had a very different feel than the first two. Not that this was a bad thing. It focused mostly around one of the characters, but all of the favorites were there. I can’t say much as the movie hasn’t been released yet, but I would give it a 5 out of 5. 🙂

We are in the credits!
We are in the credits!

Happy New Year

Happy New Year Everyone!

2011 was a year of many ups and downs.

I spent the first 6 months unemployed. Then I got a great job with a local IT company. The pay wasn’t as much as I made before, but I am really happy with the working conditions.

In February, we found out we were going to have a baby. We had been trying for just a little while. Violet is amazing. She joined us on Halloween. Everyone says how much it will change your life, but you really can’t understand until it happens to you. I love her so much it makes my heart hurt when I don’t get to see her for a while.

It seems that this was the year to have a baby. Kristen’s sister had a little boy in April, her cousin had a girl just before we had Violet, and our good friends Patrick & Lindsay had Stella about 2 weeks after Violet arrived.  Yay babies!

Our gaming sessions have been interrupted a bit because of the babies, but it was a great year for games. We started playing Pathfinder and have been working through one of their huge adventure paths. Collin introduced us to some more Steve Jackson games. It seems that every week we get some games in. I’m hoping we can get back to a regular schedule.

All in all, there were a lot of ups and downs in 2011, but it ended on an upswing. We closed out the year with Erin, Billy, & Robbie over to play games and watch the Dick Clark special.

I hope everyone has a fantastic 2012!

Updates

So much is going on now. Less than 100 days until Violet arrives. We have received some gifts already. A stroller and a car seat. Yay! We have a doctor appointment next week. Not sure if we get to have another ultrasound. I hope we can. I’d like more pics to post. 🙂

We went to see the new Harry Potter film. I was warned ahead of time (Tara) that it wasn’t close to the books. I didn’t expect it to be from what I saw of the previews, but knowing that ahead of time made it a bit more enjoyable. I wasn’t surprised on how different it was. Parts of it were incredible. My only real complaint with it is that during the massive wizard fight, they really should have used something besides blue effects. I think a bit more color would have worked. It just looked like everyone was casting the same thing.

We have had a lot of good gaming lately. Pathfinder, Munchkin, and now Zombie Dice. I picked up ZD one day because it looked interesting. It was a bit of a trick to get the others to play it (they didn’t seem that interested in it). 8 games later, they didn’t want to stop. It is a nice quick game. I highly recommend it. The Pathfinder adventures have been a lot of fun too. It’d be nice to have the same group each time, but it’s hard to get everyone together all the time. We are almost done with the first chapter of it. I’m really hoping that we can continue this adventure path. I can’t wait to see them build a kingdom.

Work is going well. I think that I’m really getting the hang of it there. I’m more comfortable now when dealing with clients. I’m looking forward to learning more and dealing with new problems.

Busy…

It has been a busy month. Holly & Mad came down for some the end of vacation week and then they stayed a few extra days to get stuff done in the soon to be baby’s room. We have 95% of the furniture in there and it is painted. Just need to get the book shelf and the rocking chair. I’m so excited about meeting Violet.

The new job is going well. I started on June 13th at ITVantage in Fort Myers. It’s a bit different than what I am used to, but I really do enjoy it. Except for firewall issues. That’s a pain in the ass. 🙂

Lots of gaming going on lately. Mostly Pathfinder and Munchkin. I did get Munchkin Quest, but we have only played that once. A bit more complex, but a lot of fun. I would like to have someone else take over some of the DMing. Jim is getting burned out.

All sorts of fun stuff

It’s been a while since I posted anything. I’ve been busy… well, not really, I just had little to say.

First: I got a job. Yay! Doing IT consulting work for a local company. More on that soon. 🙂

B: We go to the baby doctor next week. We should be hopefully able to find out if it is a girl or a boy. I put together some of the furnature for the baby’s room. There is a crib (which converts into a small bed, etc as she grows), a toy box, and a changing table. We have a dresser too, but I need to make more room for it. It’s coming along nicely.

Gamma: Lots of fun gaming going on. I have started running a Pathfinder game and we are in the first book of the Adventure Path: Kingmaker. Collin wrote up his own 4e adventure that is coming along well. We have also started playing Munchkin. Between the gaming group, we have 4 or so versions (and more coming in). Lsat night we had a more classic game with The Dash and Thorifin. Annie got her first taste of gaming, and hopefully will be back for more.

D&D Encounters

For the last few months I have been playing in the D&D Encounters program at 2d10 Games in Fort Myers. It is supposed to be a weekly 1-2 hour game where you work though one encounter per session and the story continues week after week. We have our sessions every 2-3 weeks and do a few encounters each time.

Erik , Collin, Little Patrick and I started going when it started. We made some new friends there. Hendrix (warlock), Mike (DM), and Cleon (store owner and sometimes player) have all been fantastic players and friends. We have one of our last sessions tonight and I hope that we can continue with the next season.

Red Box Game Day

Today Collin and I went to 2D10 Games in Fort Myers to play D&D for the release of the new D&D Essentials line. I ran an adventure for 4 people that had pre-made characters. It was a lot of fun. We probably took a bit longer to get through the adventure than we should have, but a good time was had by all. I am really looking forward to doing this again in the future.

Back at the beginning

Red Box D&D sets
New & Original

I stopped into a local game shop with my friend Erik on Saturday. He was looking for some minis and I was thinking about picking up a module or maybe a new guide book. After looking around for a bit, I saw a red box on a shelf. It was the new D&D Essentials Starter Set. I didn’t think it had been released yet (and according to Wizards website, it’s not out til 9-7-10). I quickly looked it over. I had heard a lot of rumors about the new Essentials line of products. Everything from it being D&D 4.5e, to a whole new game, to a throwback to old style D&D. I bought it and took it home to give it a once over.

It comes with 2 books, some maps, a sheet of tokens for players, monsters, etc, and a set of dice. The first book is for players. It is basically a ‘choose your own adventure’ book to help you decide what type of character you want to be. I choose the wizard class and the book takes you through a battle with some goblins. You continue to make choices and it instructs you to fill out your character sheet as you go according to the choices you make. The second book is the DM’s book and has basic rules, a selection of monsters, and some encounters. It presents the rules in a way that you could read them over with your friends and have a game going in a short amount of time. The boxed set only takes you up to level 2, but they are releasing more supplements over the next few months that will take characters up to level 30. It really reminds me of the boxed sets my mom got me when I was a kid (pictured above along with the new set).

I was skeptical at first when I read the rumors about what this would be doing to the game. Every time something new is released, there is always a group that cries “you’re ruining my game”  (I was one of these when 4e came out). I have changed my opinion of it. I think it is a great way to get new players into the game. With all of the books out now (3 player’s handbooks, 3 monster manuals, etc) I think it can get very confusing trying to build a character for new players. There are just too many choices. I think its a great way to introduce new players to D&D. It could also be used to veteran players who want things to be a little simpler.

New gaming gear

Dungeon Master's Token SetI just got my new Dungeon Master’s Token Set from Gale Force Nine. It’s probably one of the nicest gaming accessories I have ever seen. It comes in a nice wooden box with small compartments for the counters and a larger one for your dice, pencils, etc. The lid doubles as a dice tray and is lined with felt.

There are 50 tokens to help you keep track of ongoing damage, people who are bloodied, marked, other conditions. They are acrylic so you can use your mat markers to make notes on them.

I can’t wait to use this on Thursday when we get together to game. It is a really amazing set and I am really looking forward to using it.