Winter Depression 2012/2013

As a means to expand upon the funk I’ve shared in the above video, let’s explore the idea that I may have Seasonal affective disorder. My recent slump into the blues got me wondering if I may be suffering from it. I could just chalk it all up to me making a fool of myself last weekend and the inability to produce just made things worse, but let’s just humor this line of thought for now, shall we?

Conversations with a Therapist #9 – A Life Tainted With Fantasy

The final subject I wrote on to speak with my therapist was “Books/Movies molding with reality,” and I felt a huge urge to not say a thing on it. This is because I feel I’ve pretty much talked about it, and I’ve since decided to stop being redundant. We could have ended this series with the last post, and I would have to find other fodder to speak about.  Instead, I’ve decided against it and thought I would come in from another possible angle.

In regards to what was on my mind at that time, I think it dealt with the attempts of media taking advertising methods (or full out games) which tried to blur the line between fiction and reality. Most of these attempts were simple money making schemes, though when I was that age, I probably didn’t know better. And I believe that’s pretty much it. Moving on.

Talking D&D: Railroading

One of the greatest things I’ve come to enjoy about Dungeons & Dragons is the otherwise completely open world of exploring it has to offer. Not only that, you’re completely free to do as you will (within the confines of your PC that is), acting out and expressing yourself in the world as you come to learn and grow with it. Granted, this isn’t the only way if can be played, because it’s a completely customizable game capable of almost anything. And I would be a fool to say just D&D, because this is the attraction I have with tabletop gaming in general. The cooperative storytelling between the players and the DM/GM is what keeps me coming back.

During my time with gaming, however, I’ve discovered a curse word that leaves a bitter taste in my mouth: Railroading. In gaming terms, this is when the DM expects you to follow a certain path of actions in order to progress the game. Your input and creativity are ignored, and you will be stopped on every turn when you try to go your own path. This is downright ugly, and every DM should be warned to keep from playing a game like that, because your players will more than likely never let you DM again. A little extreme, I know, but it’s big deal when you tell a player they can’t break down a non-magical wooden locked door if they don’t have the key. I mean, really?

Talking D&D: Geas/Quest

Getting someone to do something you want can be hard in D&D. You could use violence, but that might actually get you a useless corpse should the recipient be resistant. Oh! I know! Let’s use magic to force them to do what we want! And not just Dominate Person or the more powerful Dominate Monster, which could fail via Will Save, but the Quest spell (Geas if you’re a bookworm wimpy Wizard vs. the Cleric name for it). So not only is the bastard free to act as he will, he’ll die if he doesn’t submit. Ha ha ha ha ha!!!

*ahem* Geas/Quest is a powerful 6th Level spell for Bards, Clerics, Sorcerers and Wizards. After 10 minutes of casting, any creature no matter the HD will have to complete a magical instruction…no save. This is a permanent curse, and will not disappear until the magic is sated, no matter how long it takes. The creature can resist this compulsion, but doing so will slowly kill them until they renew their efforts towards the Geas/Quest. You could try and remove it, but you need a more powerful caster than the one who placed it on you, and if it’s the big bad of the campaign, it’s a guarantee you’ll never find a better caster.

If I Had (Insert Amount) Dollars

Back in the days of my MacBook and previous endeavor into the Internet, I went to a lot of forums. Chatted in a lot of different places. These days, I simply stop by and say hello to the forum notifications I get, lest I have huge investments in whatever is going on in them…and I don’t. However, one of these forums, known as the Neopian Times Writers Forum (NTWF for short) sparked something in my head, and I felt I should write about it just to get it out. And yes, I realize that forum is a Neopets related forum, and yes, that also means I played Neopets. And I still check on it now and then. Problems? They get hungry, you know?

Anyway, the topic that got me obsessed dealt with this question: what would you do if you had unlimited wealth? No why you have the wealth or how, just a deep deep pocket of cash that is there via magic of a genie or something. What would you spend it on, including how you would use it for yourself. Just a silly pretend game, I know, but it got me thinking all the same, and when I get thinking, I tend to get obsessed with whatever topic I focus on. A boon and bane for this life of mine. Granted, playing the game is an interesting exercise, to really think on what I would ideally do should I have all the potential to make it possible. I still feel silly though, because the word Reality keeps flashing at me with neon lights, but lets ignore that for now.