The Many Trials of RPGAddict

Well it has been a long time since I last posted. About 90 weeks apparently. So I guess I should do some sort of quick catch-up. I will be running the big 30 this year. I am still gaming a lot, mainly table top still. I am still working with my dad, and my brother for a little while, as a locksmith. I am involved in the gaming community in Victoria, both with the Vancouver Island Gaming Guild and GottaCon.

Origins went well! Though I did not run as many table of my module as I though I would going in. I did end up running some other events and be "forced" to play some modules.

While I was away someone hit my car. Actually a van hit the pickup truck parked behind my car while going at 120 km/hr. The police showed up and had all the cars towed. Which was not a big deal when we assumed ICBC was going to pay for the damages on the van's insurance. At this point they know that there was a medical reason for the driver of the vans action. If it cannot be shown that the driver knew they had a higher than average chance of this happening to them they are not at fault. So at this point I have to pay almost $300($160 for storage and $140 for a tow) to get my wrecked car back. Which I plan to do this afternoon, before I have to pay more money.

The con I am planning is continuing along. It should be happening in early February 2009. They web-page is almost up, along with the forums. If you have any questions about the con you can contact me at cupton@gottacon.com.

Well here is a quick update:
I have waited through the line at the passport office and have sent in my papers. Only had to be there at 5:00 to get out by 9:30. I am glad I had some company. I got to beat Ryan at chess. My stragety was to tell him I sucked. Then before he realized I was almost not bad, he made a fatal mistake. Wa ha ha.

I have got table top gamed for 2 weeks, and the withdraw is not to bad. I am filling the time with console RPGs.

I have been sick for almost a week now and it does not seem like it is going away any time soon.

I really want to try and get out for a game of tennis soon, now that the weather is starting to change.

Went to a performance of Iothanthe. I went with a bunch of friends that I do not get to see very often: Kathryn and Chris from Vancouver, and Darren who has a young child. Tim, a good friend who I get to see a little more often, was also there. One reason that we went to see this particular show was that Dale, another friend and amazing performer, had a big part in the show.

I am currently taking voice lessons on Mondays nights from Tim. My goal is not to sing well, but not badly.

Dreamblade is pretty much dead, not even trying to make the weekly games anymore.

I am going to be in Vancouver for a locksmith convention. I am heading over this Tuesday evening and going to be there till Sunday. Going to do some learning and some hanging out.

I have been working 6 days a week for about 3 years now. I have had sometime off, but never it a ultra-relaxing time. I am thinking about not taking time off work, but I am thinking about cancelling all my commitments for two weeks and just relaxing.

My parents are away this weekend so I get to buisness sit/house sit/dog sit all at the same time. But I am thinking about taking it easy and just relaxing and spending sometime in a space I do not need to share.

Well it has been a long while since I posted. So let me try to catch you up with my "exciting" life.

I did finally get my cheque for Dreamblade from Wizards of the Coast. I think the game is not going to do so well. At least in Victoria it is almost gone. :(

I am going to Origins to run Star-Mage Prophecies. It is going to be very cool. I am going to run some adventures on my own space-station sometime in August. Ya for sci-fi rpging.

I am starting to run my Water-world home campaign again. I do have more rules to use this time. But the Broadsides book I have contradicts the DMG. So that is not a big help.

I am still working 6 days a week, and it is beginning to burn me out. Probably being busy almost every night is not helping either.

I am going to Vancouver for a Locksmith Convention at the end of the month. Going to hopefully see all my Van friends while I am there. Two of them are supposed to be coming this way in the next couple weeks, but I have my doudts.

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Well some quick updates for all you readers out there:

I am still waiting for Wizards of the Coast to get me my check for winning.

I preformed with Loading Ready Run(http://www.LoadingReadyRun.com/) in the Air Jam at Lucky Bar. I got killed by a Ninja. I also got to sit with two hot girls on a small couch.

I am possible going to both Origins and Gen-Con. To help with the Star Mage Prophecies(http://www.starmage.info/) Launch.

Just a little information about my life, now I run off to a Salmon Kings game.

Well it has been a long time since I posted anything. So let me try and give a general update:

Christmas went well. Josh and Liz, his girlfriend, flew in from Calgary. We did the big family meal on the 23. Got to see my cousin Dave, who usually cannot make these events. I also got to meet my cousins little boy. I cannot figure out what he is to me. Second cousin? We had the usual Christmas tradition of opening stocking and then having breakfast, then opening the rest of the presents.

I did not make it to New Years Eve of Losers Fun(NYELF) this year. I went last year and had a blast but could not get anyone to go with me and split costs this year. So I went to Vancouver instead and had a great time. I spent a day with Tony, just hanging out and shopping for basic living supplies. He had been really busy and has not had any transportation. For New Years I hung out with Kathryn, Chris, Dave, Darcey, and Tony. Had a lot of fun, and a little to drink.

In the next little while I plan to go skiing, play some more Dream Blade and CCGs, and try to get my role-playing groups to actually happen. I am really excited that we are actually playing the Saturday night group tonight, we usually only get to meet once a month. I have had more than my share of cancellations, sorry guys. I hope that meeting for this Saturday is a good sign of things to come.

Well I am feeling a lot better. I was feeling almost 100% last Wednesday actually. Still am not sure what I did to pull a muscle.

It is Michael's Birthday today. We are going for sushi and then singing karaoke(Well I am not going to sing if I can help it). Got him a cool present, that I cannot speak of as he does sometimes read my journal.

It looks like I will not be going to New Years of Losers Fun this year. Not enough people to support the carpool and room share. But it does look more likely that some people will be going to Gen Con this year. Woooooo.

Well my Christmas Shopping is doing even better. Only 1 person to pick up a gift for, 1 person to figure out, and one person that will be away to May so it give me some time.

So I went to Vancouver last weekend. Friday did not go smoothly for any of us. It started with us being evacuated from the restaurant we where having breakfast at due to a gas leak and ended with a broken coffee press while we where helping Tony to move. The rest of the day went about as smoothly. Saturday was a good day. I won $300 US by placing 2nd at the Dreamblade competition. I also got to see an opera version of MacBeth. I hung out Sunday with the Langley crew.

Monday went fairly smoothly, but Tuesday morning I woke up with a pain in my chest, the seem to hurt more when I breathed in. I tried to wait a bit to see if it would pass, but it did not. So I had Paul take me to the Emergency Room. It is surprising how fast you get in when you complain of chest pains. After running some test they could not find anything wrong. So they figure it is probably a pulled chest muscle. So I did not work today and tried to take it easy. I hope that I can make it to work tomorrow.

My Christmas shopping is a little behind this year, but I should be done in 2 weeks.

Well we got a lot of snow last night. As did the rest of BC. Apparently there where something like 60K homes in BC without power at one point. Luckily for us our power came back on just before midnight. We also had a gas fireplace, stove, and hot water tank. We lite some candles and played some crib.

I drove Tony to the bus this morning so he could make it over to Vancouver for some appointments today. The roads where just dead. He also had some helpful pointers for driving in the snow, as this amount of snow is the norm for Terrace(Where he spent some time). I then came down to work at 8:30, the roads where still pretty dead. My boss is snowed in today so I am manning the shop, and may get to go home early.

So the buses are not doing well on the roads. I would have thought that all there weight would make then handle OK. But I saw a bus get stuck just in front of my home on Richmond. Then saw another being towed off the curb a little farther away. When I went to get my coffee from Starbucks, thanks to the wonderful baristas who braved the snow to bring us caffeine, they told me that a much had slid sideways back down Ceaderhill X Rd the other day. I think the buses are just restarting now at 9 am, as they are pulling away from the bus stop in front of the shop(Which is on Fort St).

Everyone keep warm and safe.

Well it has been almost a month since I last posted. So let me give an update in the "excitement" that is my life.

On a personal level I am doing fairly well. Work has been very hectic, starting earlier and staying later. But all it all it seems to be going smoothly. I have a social schedule again which is good. Though I think I have taken it a little to far, need to take it back on notch so I can relax now and again. I am 98% over the whole relationship with Megan, I do not think it will ever be 100% as she was my first. She seems to have moved on as well now which is good. One of my room-mates, Tony, just got an awesome job with EA. So he is moving out by the end of the month. I happy for him, but I am going to miss him.

I have been pretty hardcore into collectible games this last month. Mostly to give myself a distraction. I bought a number of things on ebay and spent more money at my local gaming shop then I usually would have. I am still really into Dreamblade, number 3 in BC. I have tried playing World of Warcraft, the TCG, and it is pretty good. They have sold out pretty much. There should be some more being printed late next month. But I have decided, at least for the moment, to put it on the backburnner. I am also still enjoying Innuyasha, the TCG.

I have been playing in 2 campaigns at the moment. Tim's, which is set in FR, is going well. Though we are not getting good attendance. I am playing a Beguiler, which is a neat class from the Players Handbook II. The Beguiler gets a limited spell list of enchantment and illusion, get good numbers of skills, and advantages when casting spells on an person who lacks there dexterity. I am also playing in Dale's campaign, which is using GURPS 3rd edition. It is a lot of fun, though there is also trouble getting full attendance. I am playing a psychic who has been gender swapped and left with no money or ID in a foreign country.

I will be going to Vancouver on the 2nd to playing in the Dreamblade 1K Tournament. $1000 in cash prizes. I am hoping to place in top 4, only top 3 get cash prizes.

Where has the warm weather gone? It is just freezing out now. I went to CarnEvil last list with the Colwood Crew without a jacket and it was amazingly cold. It was a fun train ride and horror house. I would like to go to the haunted house in Sydney put on my Nightmares Entertainment, but I do not think that I can make it now.

I am working for Acme instead of my Dad today. John called in sick.

I am looking forward to seeing Kathryn and Chris in Vancouver this weekend! It is always a treat to leave town and visit friends. You get to put a ocean between you and your every day life and get a nice vacation.

Hi all. Well it has been a very busy week. Been out every night for one thing or another.

Monday night: I hung out with Anglia and that group. Talked about various things. I missed them.
Tuesday night: Guys night. My mother was away so we got together with pizza and beer, and
watch movies. Bloodrayne was bad, the other was good.
Wednesday night: DreamBlade Competition. I starting running an LA module for Josh and some
friends. It was really combat intensive and they where dragging along some 3rd
levels. They did not finish so we planned to meet later on Thursday.
Thursday night: Some more LA module was run. Ran over time and I missed going to CarnEvil. Did
not finish up and plan to meet next Monday. Meet up with Anglia and crew for some
hangout time.
Friday night: I went and watch SAW III, really high gross factor but still good. I went and saw
it with Tony and Paul. Then I went to Skyhave Games. Where I was convinced to get
into the the WOW(World of Warcraft) TCG(trading card game). It is so much like
the MMORPG it is silly.

I have lots of stuff on my list I am meaning to get too: Innyuasha the TCG, TV and anime, and sleep. I have really not been getting enough sleep these last couple days. Guess I am a little worn around the edges. Well I am planning on meeting the usual Sat group for supper tonight. I need to have a few stiff drinks as it has been a long week.

Well the Con-Fusion is over. With the exception of one or two big snags it went better than ever! The people who organized it did an amazing job! They had never organized the convention before, but they did better than the guy who did the last three years!! All my modules went well. Though they ran a little short. I will try and post them to the forum at www.thegreatriver.net, by the end of the week. Running great river is a lot of fun, in the way of a home campaign you have control over what is happening at the table. Unlike the RPGA where they hand you a module and you have little power, just follow the module. The one problem with Great River is that you have less control over the people at your table. In the RPGA everything is very carefully balanced. All players have access to the same resources at creation. In Great River you have 5th level people who are less powerful than 3rd level people. So even if you guess the right EL of the party you do not have any idea what to through at them in the way of monsters. But it was a great learning experience, and fun was had by all!!

I manged to win a bunch of loot for all my running. I entered the con booked for every slot. I ended up not running any CCG demos in the last slot on Saturday, since I need to go drink a lot. With all the stress of running lots of stuff, I also got an email from my ex. I decided not to deal with it at least till I relaxed a little from the convention.

So I have been crazy busy. Preparing to run 5 modules plus a speech for Con-fusion. I am writing 4 of them. Once the weekend is over things will calm down. I am also organizing the coffee for Con-fusion. Kyle the manager of the Starbucks nearest me. He was promoted recently. So I had to do the dance with the new manager. After I talked to her, and confirmed things would be OK if I got her a letter. So I wrote one up. I did not here from her for a couple days so I went in. I found out that she was on leave due to injury. So I had to talk to the assistant manager. But things all worked out and we have coffee on site for the first time.

I am still playing Dreamblade. I am currently ranked 8th in BC. Shows how little it is played here. The need to hold a 1k tournament here.

Work is going well. Acme should have a new driver soon so that I can work for my Dad full time.

I have been hanging out with Anglia, Jason, and Bonnie again. They are a fun bunch of people.

After the convention I will try to make a longer post.

Oh I finished the first season of Prince of Tennis, it was good. Going to work on Vampire Princess Miyu and Hellsing next. Appropriate with Halloween.

Just played the Inuyasha CCG. I came in 4 out of 8. Not bad I guess since this is the first time I played. It was a lot of fun. I will have to try it again.

It looks like the Sat night group is going to have troubles starting up. I was looking forward to playing Yuri. Well we are still having a lot of fun. I watched Monty Python and the Search for the Holy Grail, for the first time. I can see why it is such a classic.

Anyways it is late, and I need my sleep. I need to finish writing three modules for Con-Fusion over the next three weeks.

I am off to Pearson College this morning. It is about a 40 mins drive away. They have a Palm Pilot that is not interfacing properly with some door hardware, and I get to figure out why.

So I have watched two movies in the last couple days. Crank, which was entertaining but I never need to see again. I also saw Fearless, which was amazing. I think I need to own it! The only bad part was when subtitles appeared and some teenager shouted out "learn to speak english."

Looking forward to tennis tonight.

So my first job was at the SPCA this morning. While I waited to meet the client I stood outside the kitten room. This is the room you are only allowed to go into if you sign paper work promising to buy a kitten. There was this one black one with some white spots that saw me. It climbed up a scratching post and then jumped onto the window ledge. It was very cute. I almost thought about getting it. But I do not like cats, I am a dog person. :)

Well the stress week is over. My parents get back at midnight. Then I get to relax a little. For Father's Day I promised to take call for a week. We decided that the week he gets back from the cruise would give him the most relaxation. So I get it for another week. But it should help out, which was the point.

I really hope the campaign goes off tonight!

Well my very special week continues. So work has been a little stressful. My dad, the boss, is away. So I get to do all the work. Plus I also need to answer the phone and plan out my time over the week. Usually I am just told to go somewhere and do something. Now I need to figure out the best order to do the jobs, and try and give the customers an ETA. The middle of the day had been a little slow, so maybe out of guilt I have been working later the usual. I do not like getting paid to work, but not doing anything. Well there is only one more day and then I get a day off.

Living on your own is a weird thing after living with room-mates. If my week was not so hectic I think that I would have really enjoyed the change of pace.

Anyways I am off to make myself some supper.