Author Archives: Mage Mistress
I Love My Friendly Local Game Store
So…it seems that the World of Darkness will no longer be available in my Friendly Local Game Store. This saddens me tremendously.
On the one hand – I get it. The production of print books isn’t cheap. Shipping them around the country isn’t cheap either. I get it – I do.
And yet, I had no idea that there even WAS a new World of Darkness until I walked into my Friendly Local game Store (FLGS) some years ago. That’s where I purchase my books. That’s where I ran my very first game. It’s where I run my campaign. It’s where I met the people I game with, all of whom have become very good friends of mine over the years. I have spent hundreds of dollars on World of Darkness books, and the players at my table have snapped them up too. I have run World of Darkness at local conventions, and people have come up to me afterward (at future conventions) and mentioned that they have their own campaigns going now because they had so much fun at my table. It’s what I talk about on Twitter, and the inspiration for this blog. If those books hadn’t been on the shelves at my favorite place I would never have known they existed. I wouldn’t have spent my money on them, my players wouldn’t have spent their money on them, and they wouldn’t have been able to tell other people just how much fun they have playing in this system. Without my FLGS none of that would have been possible.
Now, my understanding is that retailers can get the books – but there’s a catch. The books will wind up costing the retailer more than the cover price. So if my FLGS wants to have World of Darkness books on the shelves they have to lose money on every single book. Alternatively, I suppose they could charge more than the cover price for each book but that’s kind of ridiculous isn’t it?
The whole thing makes me sad.
In the end my loyalty has to go to my Friendly Local Game Store. Will I continue to run my campaign in the World of Darkness? I imagine so, for a while at least. After all, we did buy the books and it is fun. Will I continue to write one-off modules to run at game conventions in the World of Darkness? Not so much. Part of why I run one shot adventures is to support my FLGS. What that store has given me goes beyond the books and dice and GM screens and assorted gaming paraphernalia that I’ve purchased there. That store introduced me to some great people, has provided me with countless hours of fun, and I’ve walked out the door after each session with great stories to tell. If I can help to bring a new customer through the door that’s my way of paying for all those priceless, intangible things the store has given me free of charge. So I’ll be looking for a new game system for my one-shot adventures, and I know just where I’ll find it: on the shelves at my Friendly Local Game Store.
How Much XP Do I Get For This?
So, I moved. Or rather, I’m moving. Most of my stuff is actually in my new place now (snow and train derailments have slowed this process considerably) and unpacking is happening little by little. It’s actually a bit frustrating since I only just packed the stuff a couple of days ago (at most 2 weeks) and already it’s coming out of the boxes I paid way too much money for.
Where’s a Portal gun when I need one?
Or a Portal spell?
Rotten Mastigos Mages are never around when you need them.
Perhaps the most… interesting… part of the move was my black couch. It’s a black leather two-seater (so technically a love-seat I suppose) with absolutely no handholds. getting it DOWN the flight of stairs from my old apartment wasn’t too terrible. Getting it into the doorway of my new place (also a second floor) went likewise reasonably smoothly. Getting it up the stairs… now that was a challenge!
At first we went for the Strength+Resolve approach of trying to shove it up the staircase. This worked well for some other items, but the black leather plushy comfortableness of the sofa was not having any of that. It snagged against the edges of the steps mercilessly and almost killed two people! (Tricksy Sofa!)
Fortunately I have a couple of dots in Science, and no shortage of Wits, and blew a Willpower Point to come up with a plan. Knowing that I had previously broken down two of my bookcases, and knowing that those bookcase parts were in my new place, I MacGyvered the side boards of said bookcases into a ramp that was narrow enough to get your feet on the stairs to either side of it. We then slid that bad boy up the staircase with minimal expletives being harmed.
of course, then there are all the boxes of RPG books (and other books) that had to make their way up the stairs.
RPG books get heavy real fast.
So, it’s been a busy couple of weeks, and I know I’ve owed you some World of Darkness related blog posting – and this is a pretty weak example of that but I’ve been crazy busy taking apart and rebuilding furniture. At least the computer is mostly assembled again. And the coffee machine… coffee is soooo goooooood.
Now I have an adventure to plan for Ravencon this weekend at Ravenblood Games! I’m trying to decide between running “Your Safety is Our Number One Concern” and “Quit While You’re Ahead“. Both are Hunter adventures (the system I’m signed up to run), and I was smart enough to mark the box the modules were packed in. WHEW! I may wind up bringing both and letting the players decide when I get there.
Now if you’ll excuse me I should probably try to find my Hunter book and the GM screen I assembled with my cheat notes for both of those modules. They’re in a box… how hard could it possibly be to find one of those around here?
Elf Needs Coffee… Badly
I have spent crazy hours moving all my stuff, and now I need to rebuild a bunch of furniture.
But it’s worth it.
Sorry no post this week. Hopefully I’ll have things up and running again by next week.
~MM
I Have A Lot Of Crap!
I had been planning on moving 6 months or so from now.
Instead I’m moving on Saturday. THIS Saturday. You know… the day after this posts.
I blame the Acanthus. 😉
Seriously though it’s a nicer apartment and I’m psyched, but packing boxes as fast as I can means no time for a post this week. Sorry guys!
Wish me luck!