Summer Inferno

Journal 124 July 22- Aug 4, 2024

I didn’t prep anything for this blog.

Nothing.

The last two weeks saw a drop in the weather, but still too hot to do a damn thing.

I didn’t work on maps. Didn’t write any story notes, nor do any world building. Hell, I only did one more session of solo role playing… and my weekly games 2of the 4 got canceled.

I didn’t watch any good movies… and while I read about 30 comics, I didn’t read much else. So, what the hell did I do for the last 2 weeks?

A smattering of the Olympics and a hell of a lot of videos from Gencon over the last three days.

Rethinking

Should I even write this stupid blog?

I NEED to write it.

Let me explain.

I’ve already lost focus. There was a time when this blog went out every single week. Hell, first year this site had a weekly, and twice a month posts. You’d get game posts every week, and then an essay or historical article. Or a progress report on what I was up to.

I had an entire release schedule worked out months at a time.

Now… “well not so much” is such an understatement.

I know this whole post is just non-sense.

Why bother even doing it? And really, it’s because I need to make myself sit and touch the keys. The act of typing makes me want to keep doing it. Despite the fact that in less than an hour my back starts to seize up.

The other reason I have to write this… the shame will motivate me to do something. As soon as I publish this I will go and work on world building, or draw some maps, or even write another short story. I’ll do something, anything, to have a topic for the next blog.

Hell, I’m even wearing my James Moore shirt to double down the encouragement to get my ass in gear.

What can we talk about?

So, what can I talk about other than my lack of writing?

I can’t even talk about my gaming sessions, since for most of July they were all canceled and the couple games I played since we got back together haven’t really done much other than set up new arcs.

We’re in a weird place with all the games right now. One of them is at the end, its just going a few more sessions and wrapping up, one is supposed to be limited but the DM hasn’t really set a goal for the end, the third is limping along because the DM doesn’t want to end it until the 2024 Players Handbook drops to start the next.

The fourth game… I kinda don’t know what’s happening with that one. It’s almost a game of the week, or various short stories. It had an overall story, but after multiple character deaths it lost its cohesion and got sidelined. We left the “mainstory” to play as back-water idiots in a bronze-age setting that’s adjacent to where all our other characters died.

Maybe its just me, but I feel like it’s a game I’m drifting through. Maybe the others feel the same, maybe not. I know I didn’t really comer up with a story or goal for my character. He has a bit of a past that I can mine for some story, but its nothing I’ve been using in the game.

So, yes, it fundamentally is my own flaw that is making the game feel odd. I’m not delivering the goods, so why should I expect everyone else to do it for me?

Back on Point

Three of my four games are coming to an end in the next few months is what I should be mentioning. That means I have three new characters to explore and think about. To start working on. I don’t have any ideas yet, or characters in mind.

One game is going to be set in Hell, where our characters are tasked with hunting down escaped demons, or bringing evil mortals down. So far, I’m thinking of playing warrior in this one, but playing a warlock whose pact lord has forced him to serve in Hell post death seems like a lot of fun as well.

The other new game is a huge multiversal, multi-timeline thing that has main characters in the current year, characters in the past, and alternate versions of said characters. So…. That game is going to require a ton of work and thought to create characters and its also the one that is coming up soonest.

I might devote a whole journal to the characters for that one.

And the last game is nebulous about when (if) it will happen and involves a ton of house rules. So, I can’t even begin to think up a character until I see all those rules.

I know that none of this is what people expect when they read this blog… then again… I talk about nonsense all that time. So I guess this isn’t straying far from the norm. Gaming, world building, stories, character, and all of that have always been the main thrust of the journal. With my writing log and novel work coming in almost secondary.

That said, I need to have some breakfast, you all have a good day and thanks if you’re still reading.