Bidi’s World

I had a truly amazing year in 2007. As the year went on, I got more and more ambitious. By Christmas I had so much going on I think the creative part of my mind just shut down.

I would wake up in the morning and think about all the things I wanted to do during the day and it was a very long list. I’m only talking about the things I really wanted to do too. There was also all the things I had to do. It got so bad that not only did I start using a calendar but I even scheduled stuff out into 2008.

Indecision over what needed doing first became a huge problem and all the while I kept thinking of new projects and endeavors I wanted to start which just added to the confusion. By the time December came around all I wanted to do was focus on our Christmas vacation trip to my parents and nothing else. The blog, podcast, gaming, and everything was on hold at this point.

Here we are in the new year and I’ve finally had time to think. I’ve decided it is time to focus my priorities and here is what I have planned for 2008.

It’s time to wake up JD’s Musical Alchemy and get back to reviewing the music I love so much. Putting the show together was becoming a chore and taking away from the enjoyment of finding and presenting the music. This was mostly because I kept trying to find better ways to improve the quality at the cost of more labor. My goal for this year is to keep it simple so I can focus on the music.

I have a hand full of motorcycle trips scheduled for 2008 already including a rally in Eastern Oregon. Except for the occasional weekend ride I’m going to stick with what I have scheduled instead of trying to fit in every event available this year.

Last year I found a cool gaming group that seemed to focus on “organized play” games. Shortly after hooking up with them the coordinator for the group stepped down from his role. I had thought I would be able to help put together game days to keep things moving but it looks like I won’t have the time to learn enough about the games to really do a good job scheduling events. I should be able to fit in the occasional game though and I hope to be able to referee a campaign at some point with a system I’m familiar with.

I’m having a blast gaming with the family too. In addition to continuing to play World of Warcraft with the wife, we purchased a Wii just before Christmas and picked up a few new games over the holidays. The Wii has a very different style of console gaming and I’ll go into that in more detail in another post. I have also picked up a number of table top games for the family to play together.

We also have a new addition in the family. Rocket is a one year old Lab/Aussie mix. He’s smart, friendly, and a huge ball of energy. We started basic training this week at PetSmart and even after just one class I’m already seeing progress. While Rocket is a family dog, much of the responsibility falls on me as it was on my insistence that we adopted him from the rescue group.

The last thing I want to do is work on my painting. Last year I decided to get back into painting in water colors. This year I hope to continue that and perhaps even take a class or two. My next Christmas my goal is to be able to make my own hand made holiday cards.

So 2008 is perhaps going to be even more busy than last year. It is my hope that it will be better organized than last year though.

• Bidi’s World Microblog Digest for 3/17/2008 (0)
• Working hard on the podcasts (0)
• Lamenting for a polyhedral life style (0)

It was with a great deal of will power, I went to my first gaming convention. I had never done such a thing before and knew of nobody into the hobby who could join me. After the great time I had at World Wide D&D Gaming Day though I was determined to make the best of it.

As it was, my worries were unfounded. Nerdcon 2007 was put on by the Clan of the Cave Nerds and ran Friday November 9th till Sunday November 11th. They are a gaming group that plays at Ancient Wonders in Tualatin on the second Saturday of every month. I was beside myself with the hospitality that greeted me there. My original intent was only to spend a few hours there on Saturday. Getting into a game of Munchkin or something simple seemed like a good start. In the end though, it was the longest and funnest two days I’ve had gaming since I was a kid. And that was a very long time ago.

It started out with me asking Ada, the event organizer, questions about the various games that were going on. The setting and system of Living Arcanis perked my interest and they had an introductory adventure planned for that Saturday. One of the other gamers there helped me get a character rolled up and gave me an introduction to the setting. It was at this point Bidimus of the Hinterlands, a ranger, was born.

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• Hope everyone had a fun “Worldwide D&D Gaming Day” (5)
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Today, November 3rd, was Worldwide D&D Gaming Day. From what I can tell this was the fourth year they’ve run this particular event. Beyond just encouraging everyone they can reach to go out and game today, they also had a special event setup at participating game shops around the world. One of my local gaming shops, Ancient Wonders, was one of them so I went down there to check it out.

The event consisted of a packet for a dungeon master and a group of five players to run a scenario. Not only was this my first Worldwide D&D Gaming Day but it was the first time I’ve sat down with a group of strangers for some serious gaming in about 20 years. I’ve tried to get a game going with my immediate family but that really isn’t the same thing. Beyond being only a partial group which has an entirely different dynamic, but nobody else in my family has the love for D&D that I have. We’ve barely done more than just the Basic Game at this point.

I was really nervous about heading down there but I am so glad I did. Everyone was so friendly and I left there wishing it could have gone on forever.

The scenario was pretty cool. Each game was supplied with a set of miniatures, stat cards, playing map, module, and dice for the dungeon master and a d20, prepared character sheet, and stat card for the miniature of the character for each player. There were five characters in the adventure consisting of a paladin, fighter, rogue/fighter, sorcerer, and a cleric. Our dungeon master did a great job. He kept it from being too easy but didn’t over complicate it at the same time.

Other than some strange liberties the game designers took with some of the details of the scenario it was essentially a regular D&D 3.5 edition game. The anomalies were interesting. For example, there is a common adventuring pack that almost all characters start out with as a rule of thumb. This has been a D&D tradition for as long as I can remember. This pack usually consisted of some oil, 10′ pole, metal spikes, rope, and a hand full of other odds and ends. These characters had none of that. There was also the choices of spells the various casters had to use and the odd balance of some of the statistics.

Once we completed the scenario it became clear how these things would have changed the course of the game though and since this was a small one off adventure perhaps the desire was to limit possibilities. Dice rolls were not in our favor today however and alternative methods of making our way through the quest would have been appreciated. The game just before ours ran about three hours. Our game ran about five.

In the end though, we all had a blast. I learned a little more about playing D&D and have the bug to want to play more than ever. Next weekend is an event in Portland, OR called Nerdcon 2007. I’m planning on attending to see if I can get in on even more games. At the very least, I know they have some Munchkin games going, which I love, and our dungeon master from tonight is going to be there running some games. I look forward to seeing how it goes.

• Living Arcanis and Nerdcon 2007 (3)
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Have you ever felt like your life was missing something or even simply not playing out the way you wish it was? This is a problem I’ve been struggling with lately.

As a kid, say about 10 or so, I was really into pencil and paper based role playing games. That is to say, I was into them for a short while at least. Advanced Dungeons & Dragons from TSR had just been released and I had the pleasure of getting my hands on an original Basic Set. A couple of my friends from the neighborhood and I would sit around taking turns as Dungeon Master on the weekends and explore a whole new dynamic in gaming.

Our new gaming group was cut short when my family ended up moving out of the country only a year or so later. Finding gaming books at that time was difficult to begin with. Finding English books in a foreign country was even harder though.

I found comfort in computer role playing games, though the restrictions of a computer environment prevented the experience from even coming close to playing around a table with friends. After a few years I finally found some friends with similar interests and we started a new gaming group. Our gaming materials were still limited to imports or what we brought with us but we weren’t going to let that stop us.

Alas, all good things must come to an end. Once again I ended up moving and had to leave my new gaming group behind.

Lately I’ve been longing to game again. I’ve recruited the family into a pseudo gaming group but there are too many empty chairs to get the full experience. Most of my friends are into electronic gaming and have no interest in the unplugged variety.

To make matters worse many of the bloggers and podcasters I follow on the internet are gamers. Every other day I’m constantly hearing about games they held, pictures of gaming parties, or the latest games from the cons. Over on Dragon magazine, Shelly Mazzanoble has an excelent article called “How Shelly Got Her Game Back” about losing her favorite Dungeon Master and the thrill of getting a new one. It makes me long to have a Dungeon Master at all.

For now I have my online games. It isn’t the same thing at all but it’s something. I just hope that at some point in the future I’ll be able to have the life I picture myself living, full of polyhedral dice and adventures untold.

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• Living Arcanis and Nerdcon 2007 (3)