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Our office accounts person (who is also my boss’s wife) is Dutch, so I figure yeah, Netherlands is probably as good a team to go for as any at this point, I’m not really invested in any of the others still in it.
Funny thing is, my boss is Italian ... I reckon there was some tension in the household when Netherlands went through and Italia didn’t ...
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The strange thing is the way it affects our country. England had literally thousands of flags over cars and houses and t-shirts as we approached the World Cup but the day after the Germany game, everything changed.
As its our national sport there has been a lot of bad press for the football team and I'm guessing one or two of the players will get a roasting when the new season starts in August.
It is such a shame and since I was born one month before the one time England won the Cup, I am beginning to wonder if I'll ever see it happen. This was a great opportunity.
Suppose the Olympics may help in 2012, but somehow its not the same.
Cheers
On my side, Just a note to let all know that I will be traveling on a family visit this week. I may have occasional internet access, but nothing consistent. If so I will post when able.
I should be back to 'normal' by next Sat, or Sun at latest.
Have a happy 4th!
~Rags
Happy July 4th to any of you who are across the big pond.
Hey guys, sorry for the unannounced, prolonged absence. I'm back, but will disappear again between July 21-26, August 9-20 or so, and September 11-19... and perhaps a few other weekends...
No love for Canada Day? Sniff... :-(
;-)
Hey guys, sorry for the unannounced, prolonged absence. I'm back, but will disappear again between July 21-26, August 9-20 or so, and September 11-19... and perhaps a few other weekends...
No love for Canada Day? Sniff... :-(
;-)
Welcome back Twiceborn. Wow - looks like a busy schedule ahead!
Looks like you'll need to make a movie based on Canada Day to lift it's profile! Happy belated Canada Day
[
Looks like you'll need to make a movie based on Canada Day to lift it's profile! Happy belated Canada Day
Heh... thanks, and no worries... to be honest, I don't feel particularly patriotic these days. Quite the contrary... I think Canada's headed in the wrong direction politically, and it shames and frustrates me to no end... [End of rant]...
Heh... thanks, and no worries... to be honest, I don't feel particularly patriotic these days. Quite the contrary... I think Canada's headed in the wrong direction politically, and it shames and frustrates me to no end... [End of rant]...[
Looks like you'll need to make a movie based on Canada Day to lift it's profile! Happy belated Canada Day
I am interested in what you don't agree with? Mainly because I like the idea of living in Canada one day (Vancouver) and it is good to get the info from a local on what is really going on.
I think it would have to be really bad to be anywhere near as depressing as living in England.
Glad it's not only ME MOthmeister! ;P
I shall be absent this weekend myself. I have the opportunity to attend Mechacon (Anime Convention) in NEw Orleans this weekend. (Fri-Sun, July 16-18) So I shall be out of touch till Sunday night. At the earliest. Monday Morning at the latest.
I'm going to participate in the 2nd of 6 planned mega-scenarios for Star Wars (scenarios planned over 6 years, Both RPG and Minis!)
Wish me luck! :D
I'm B-A-A-A-aaack! :D
(ANd the crowd goes wild!)
I went. I had fun. I returned. (After paying WAY too much for parking! Sheesh!)
NOW I'm fighting two armfulls of Poison Ivy that I apparently got in my backyard before I left! (No rest for the wicked,...) ;P
Will catch up ASAP.
Sorry for the unannounced absence guys – very busy at work last week, followed by bad case of flu, followed by busy at work again (and still sick) ... trying to catch up on things (perhaps slowly) from today.
Get your self well, nothing worse than trying to do to much before you are fully fit.
French Wolf, did you go to PaizoCon UK? It was only 22 miles from my home, but by the time I realised where it was, it was too late to book tickets.
Sorry for the unannounced absence guys – very busy at work last week, followed by bad case of flu, followed by busy at work again (and still sick) ... trying to catch up on things (perhaps slowly) from today.
I understand! I do!
Get better soon Moth!
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French Wolf, did you go to PaizoCon UK? It was only 22 miles from my home, but by the time I realised where it was, it was too late to book tickets.
It was very good again, PS scenarios are a very high standard and most important of all word had got around, many more of my Convention friends from years gone by have ditched 4E in favour of this. One friend in particular, Sad, I haven't seen for nine years.
The only downside was a slight lack of DMs on the Sunday, consequently I ran tables of seven then eight which took a bit of the fun out of it.
You should go next time, it would good to meet up. I met one of my other players, Wellard - a scotsman, and its always good to put a face to the postings.
Cheers
I fully intended to go this year, but real life kicking the heck out of me made me completely forget when it was.
I will be there next year, hopefully.
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Post is up, finally!
Thanks guys. I think this flu hit me a bit harder than it would therwise, given that I had been working pretty hard - I was stuck in the office till 2am this time last week. On Friday and Saturday I could barely get out of bed, but wasn't able to sleep properly either, suffering from fever dreams. Since Sunday I have been mostly better, but still feeling quite weak and tired. I think today is the first day I have felt better than about 75% ... now if only I could shake this cough too ...
Post is up, finally!
Thanks guys. I think this flu hit me a bit harder than it would therwise, given that I had been working pretty hard - I was stuck in the office till 2am this time last week. On Friday and Saturday I could barely get out of bed, but wasn't able to sleep properly either, suffering from fever dreams. Since Sunday I have been mostly better, but still feeling quite weak and tired. I think today is the first day I have felt better than about 75% ... now if only I could shake this cough too ...
You sound like your are coming out in sympathy with Kajetan.......
Glad PaizoCon was good FW.
It begs the question ... next time you lot level, is anyone in favour of switching over from 3.5 to Pathfinder rules?
Please!!!!!!!
(or even level down?)
Glad your feeling better Moth! Even if not at 100% yet.
Hope you ditch it soon. (I personally always feel that summer colds/flus are worse than winter ones. Maybe its only because I get too miss so much of what I like to do during the summer! ?!?) ;P
I am perfectly fine with switching over to PFRPG if you wish. I own the giant tome now, so I have that as well as the online resources. ANd I must admit that in my 3.5 games, I sometimes forget that they are not PFRPG, and look up the wrong versions of the spells! ;P
Glad PaizoCon was good FW.
It begs the question ... next time you lot level, is anyone in favour of switching over from 3.5 to Pathfinder rules?
I'm fine with either staying 3.5 or switching to PFRPG.
Heh... thanks, and no worries... to be honest, I don't feel particularly patriotic these days. Quite the contrary... I think Canada's headed in the wrong direction politically, and it shames and frustrates me to no end... [End of rant]...[
Looks like you'll need to make a movie based on Canada Day to lift it's profile! Happy belated Canada Day
I am interested in what you don't agree with? Mainly because I like the idea of living in Canada one day (Vancouver) and it is good to get the info from a local on what is really going on.
I think it would have to be really bad to be anywhere near as depressing as living in England.
Ah, where to start... I guess I don't want to start a political/ideological/religious debate, so I won't really go into too much detail. Like many other countries in the western hemisphere, Canada has become increasingly conservative, and, in my opinion, many Canadians seem to be less and less tolerant of diversity, and increasingly judgemental and narrow-minded. This, combined with what I consider to be a growing sense of blind patriotism and belief that Canada is "the best and most just country on Earth" (and so much better than our neighbours to the south), is instilling an arrogance in many of my countrymen that I am not comfortable with.
Among other things, the Conservative government is injecting its "Christian values" into its political agenda--thankfully, they have a minority government so can't do anything too drastic (no offence intended to my fellow gamers who may be staunch Christians/Conservatives). But it's possible that they will get a majority government in the next election, and then one can only guess what they will do...
Just a few weeks ago, the federal government decided to make the long form census voluntary rather than mandatory, which would potentially create serious problems in terms of the validity and reliability of data especially for comparative purposes over time. Yes, let's scrap what has come to be recognized as one of the highest quality sources of national data in the world, so that we can make more and more decisions based on ideology rather than fact. The head of Statistics Canada resigned following the announcement, and there has been some public outcry with regards to the government's decision, so it's too early to determine whether the government will reverse their position or make a compromise... but the fact that the current government would even try to implement such a decision says a lot...
I am the director of a left leaning charitable organization in Alberta (the province arguably is the strongest bastion of conservatism and "free market thinking" in Canada), and the trends I and others in my field see point to a gradual dismantling of what little social safety net we have left. Our Employment Insurance system is a sad joke compared to what one finds in many western/northern European countries, the purchasing power of the middle class has stagnated over the past 20 years and that of the poorest quintile has actually declined... the poor are getting poorer, the middle class is going nowhere, and only the rich get richer. Our provincial minimum wages are also very low by OECD standards, we've been exploiting record numbers of vulnerable foreign workers through the federal Temporary Foreign Worker program (I know of many workers from the UK who have been royally shafted by our federal government's policies, who gave up everything they had to come here, lost their Canadian jobs in the economic downturn, have few prospects of getting another job and are ineligible for income support due to bureaucratic restrictions, etc.) etc., etc. Our current government is very short-sighted... and, unfortunately, the official opposition has little credibility.
While Obama is trying to introduce universal health care to the US, Canada (and especially Alberta) is moving towards increased privatization. The government claims that we have a spending problem and that we need to cut more programs and services, but in reality, we have a revenue problem... caused by the Conservative government cutting the GST by 2% over the past few years... and many Canadians don't seem to understand that you get nothing for nothing. To them, taxes= bad (our personal income tax levels are much lower than in northern Europe and the UK).
In Alberta, the provincial government is hell-bent on building a pipeline that would facilitate the exportation of oil from the tar sands to the US and overseas markets... thereby exporting high paying jobs refining oil to the US in exchange for a quick (if lower) buck off our resources, instead of building refineries here (and let's not talk of the environmental controversies surrounding the tar sands! :-).
Having lived in Denmark a decade ago, I can say that even though it is by no means a perfect country (I know that newcomers, especially those of colour from "developing countries" have a tough time integrating and that racism and occupational segregation are very real in Denmark), I wish that Canada would strive to create a society with a more even distribution of wealth, better labour standards, a strong commitment to public health and social services, etc. etc. But we're going in the opposite direction.
I could say a lot more, but you get the gist of my own perspective and biases...
Yes, Vancouver is a beautiful (but expensive!) city. Yes, I feel very lucky that I live near the Rocky Mountains and can enjoy thousands of kilometres of wilderness trails. Yes, I know that many countries are worse off than Canada, and that Canada is not alone among western countries to be facing these kinds of socio-economic and political challenges.. But I also know what Canada once aimed to be, and what it could be... and we're heading in the opposite direction. I guess I'm just really disillusioned...
So much for not going into detail!
Of course, if you're a Christian, Conservative-leaning, free-market supporter, you may love what's going on in Canada these days! And you won't have too much difficulty finding locals other than me who'll proudly tell you that we live in the best country in the world!
While I read your above post, can anyone remember if I added my extra attribute into intelligence at level 4 for Kajetan? (I did, it was in the profile.)
I think I did.
Edit: Just read your post, thank you, it is very interesting to get a view from a local of a country. More is the pity, Canada sounds in some ways like it is heading down the poop chute, England, in my opinion is already down there, and we need to climb our way out of it, but I hold very little belief that we can. Hence the willingness to abandon the sinking ship and find a different country, one I am more willing to bring up a child in. (Puts his responsible, going to be a dad hat on).
In England our welfare system has created a generation of people who either, are too idle to work, work on the sly and still claim benefits or want to work, but it is not economically beneficial for them to work as they would earn less than they do now. This system has to be paid for by the people in work, meaning we have one of the most complex and tax heavy systems in Europe. We have so many stealth taxes you would not believe. We used to have a massive problem with migrant workers, but we have so many taxes now, most of them have gone home, most of them worked harder than anyone else I know. Because no one wants to do the low paid, low skilled jobs, we need these migrant workers, but far too many people are opposed to them that it borders on racism.
Our national health system is a farce, one of my friends is from Chile where she is a qualified nurse. In England she has to work as a waitress because her qualification is not recognised here, yet the health system in Chile is faster and more responsive to patients needs. As an example, my wife now has a problem with her heart racing constantly, she noticed this when she was recovering from her operation back in May (an operation she needed because the same health system left her bleeding internally for 3 days), it took her until the beginning of July to get to see a heart specialist. The specialist sent her for more tests which we only got yesterday and now we have got to wait at least another two weeks to get an appointment with him again. If we went private and paid through the nose, we would of been seen immediately and had the test done the next day. I am all in favour of a health system that looks after everyone, but when Tony Blair was prime minister and leader of the Labour Party who are left wing he need to go into hospital and he went private, that should of told people that the system does not work well.
My elderly aunt is also in hospital waiting to be moved to a care home, this has took 3 months to sort out and we have only got to the stage of being allowed to look at care homes.
England also has a massive problem with too many bleeding heart liberals. We live in a democracy that seems to favour which every minority shouts the loudest and causes the most grief, rather than the silent masses who just go about their every day job. This is how scared we are of upsetting people, in France they recently banned the full Muslim head scarf from public places. Now this has started a debate about it being implemented here as well and the head scarf supporters are on TV every day condemning the decision in France and claiming it affects their human rights. My only beef with it is that if I walked into a bank wearing a full face balaclava, I would be asked to remove it at the least but more likely I would be wrestled to the ground by a security guard. Yet with the balaclava you can see my mouth as well as my eyes. It is one rule for the minorities and one rule for the others, which is not the way to have an integrated multicultural society in my opinion. The liberals where also trying to argue that prisoners should be allowed to have parties last week, I almost crashed my car when I heard that on the radio.
Anyway, that is my rant over and I will get back to levelling down Kajetan.
Hey Moth,
Looks like the consensus is to move over to the Pathfinder Rules, so I'm happy to do so as well.
Hey all, just in case anyone missed these, just a reminder to add the below items to your equipment lists if you haven't already. Otherwise they will be quickly lost in the ether.
Pharris
* 28 ancient gold coins
* 64 ancient silver coins (tarnished)
* 3 x earings
* 1 x knecklace
* Tamiach's Great Sword
* 1 x bracelet / armband
Nicolai
* 28 ancient gold coins
* 64 ancient silver coins (tarnished)
* 1 x bracelet / armband
* 1 x knecklace
* silver comb & matching silver mirror
* steel clawed fist sceptre (light mace),
* stoppered clay flask adorned with a rune;
Kajetan
* 28 ancient gold coins
* 64 ancient silver coins (tarnished)
* 1 x bracelet / armband
* large emerald (set in rusted iron sceptre),
* timber wand;
* four ceramic inscribed tablets
* large silver bowl (carved with animal images)
Keildrithe
* 28 ancient gold coins
* 64 ancient silver coins (tarnished)
* 2 x bracelet / armband
* gold medallion with 6 sapphires (engraved with galloping horse);
* two golden stirrups hanging from a rotten saddle;
* ceramic painted dish;
Alton
* 28 ancient gold coins
* 64 ancient silver coins (tarnished)
* 1 x bracelet / armband
* golden dagger sheath encrusted with semi-precious stones;
* palm box made of mother of pearl
* small metal shield (rusted) decorated with gold studs;
Laithe
* 25 ancient gold coins
* 60 ancient silver coins (tarnished)
* 1 x bracelet / armband
* heavy wooden shield (with skull motif)
* shortspear wrapped up in a mold covered sheet;
* obsidian spearhead;
Kajetan
* 28 ancient gold coins
* 64 ancient silver coins (tarnished)
* 1 x bracelet / armband
* large emerald (set in rusted iron sceptre),
* timber wand;
* four ceramic inscribed tablets
* large silver bowl (carved with animal images)
I'll have to get weights for all these as it might make me heavily encumbered.
With regard to the 'timber wand' if that turns out to be a normal stick and you are making Kajetan carry it around, you'll be the first to be turned into a frog when he finally snaps and goes all evil on you all. :-)
Thx for the reminder/update Ash!
Hm,... So, if you see Kaj go all glassy-eyed,... DUCK! ;)
Hey all, just in case anyone missed these, just a reminder to add the below items to your equipment lists if you haven't already. Otherwise they will be quickly lost in the ether.
Noted... thanks!
With regard to the 'timber wand' if that turns out to be a normal stick and you are making Kajetan carry it around, you'll be the first to be turned into a frog when he finally snaps and goes all evil on you all. :-)
hhah...not sure if a frog will have the same threatening effect as Laithe's favoured wolf form, but might be worth trying out next time we enter combat.
I don't think I can change you into a frog anyway, aren't shapechangers immune to polymorth spells? I forget if that is true or false in 3.5.
Hm,... actually, I think I remember reading that they are NOT immune to Polymorph spells, BUT if they have control over their changing, (Most were-creatures, druids I would presume) they can assume their form like normal on their next move.
On a side note,...
Just wanted to let everyone know that things are,... hectic,... over here. So if I drop off of radar for a day or so, it's NOT due to lack of interest, just trying to deal with RL. (Which is always about as much fun as it sounds!) ;P
If I go AWOL over the next few days, please DMNPC me, I have just got back from the hospital where my best mate has just passed away, so my head is not in a good place at the moment.
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If I go AWOL over the next few days, please DMNPC me, I have just got back from the hospital where my best mate has just passed away, so my head is not in a good place at the moment.
Shit man. My thoughts are with you, hang in there. Let us know if there's anything we can do or if you want to talk. Or anything you'd rather we avoided in the game for a bit.
Hey all, it is Arctaris, posting from a new account as I lost access to the email address associated with the old one.
I vanished (again *sigh*) a little suddenly and completely, and I apologize for not giving warning; between a busy life with work and school, some...personal issues, and a lengthy slump in motivation and creativity, I took a long hiatus from the game in general.
Lately I've been missing the game in general and you guys specifically, so I stopped by to say hello after lurking on the game thread for a few days. I'm glad to see that you folks have continued the awesome PbP, and that Alton continues to live on.
And ironically the post monster decided to eat the first post I've made in a close to a year. Go figure.
EDIT: Though I don't think you know me, my thoughts are with you DMs.
Thanks all for the kind words. I am going to try and keep on top of posting as my buddy was a role player and would of gave me a tongue lashing for not posting because of him.
Hi Arctaris/Grimeh. Nice to see you again.
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Hey all, it is Arctaris, posting from a new account as I lost access to the email address associated with the old one.
I vanished (again *sigh*) a little suddenly and completely, and I apologize for not giving warning; between a busy life with work and school, some...personal issues, and a lengthy slump in motivation and creativity, I took a long hiatus from the game in general.
Lately I've been missing the game in general and you guys specifically, so I stopped by to say hello after lurking on the game thread for a few days. I'm glad to see that you folks have continued the awesome PbP, and that Alton continues to live on.And ironically the post monster decided to eat the first post I've made in a close to a year. Go figure.
EDIT: Though I don't think you know me, my thoughts are with you DMs.
Hey Arctaris, how’s things? No worries about the game, sometimes life happens like that – hope that things have settled down for you a bit now. Doing anything interesting nowadays?
Yeah, it kind of looked like you weren’t coming back, at least not anytime soon, but I liked Alton and what he (/you) brought to the game, so I decided to try to keep him around. Fortunately I knew someone who I figured would enjoy the character and do justice to him.
So are you playing at all now? Finding much time to get back into the game?
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Thanks all for the kind words. I am going to try and keep on top of posting as my buddy was a role player and would of gave me a tongue lashing for not posting because of him.
Hope you're hanging in there. I can't really identify, but I figure you must be going through a pretty tough time; but yes - I think it would be appropriate to hoist a d20 in your friend's honour.
Hey ADMAE, Best wishes and thoughts here too.
Like the man said, just give a holler if you want to talk, or (sometimes more importantly) want to AVOID talking about something! ;)
Anyways, prayers from here to you and your best mate's family.
Arctaris! Nice to see your avatar again! ;) Hope your doing well!?
Thank you, and yes, I am actually doing pretty well now. School is no longer so boring that it takes away my will to live, and I'm no longer in a very...difficult and unstable relationship.
Yeah, sorry I stopped posting without even warning. For a long while I didn't have the motivation much less the enthusiasm to do much of anything, especially not something involving creativity.
And I'm glad that Alton has continued faithfully in his diminutive heroics; I had hoped that he hadn't been killed off or abducted or something like that.
Trying to, unfortunately my old group kind of fell apart, what with some of us moving away or not having time. Ironically, now that I have the time and enthusiasm to play, I don't have a group to play with >.<
Good to see you too Rags! Glad to see that Nicolai hasn't gotten himself killed XD
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Thank you, and yes, I am actually doing pretty well now. School is no longer so boring that it takes away my will to live, and I'm no longer in a very...difficult and unstable relationship.
Yeah, sorry I stopped posting without even warning. For a long while I didn't have the motivation much less the enthusiasm to do much of anything, especially not something involving creativity.
And I'm glad that Alton has continued faithfully in his diminutive heroics; I had hoped that he hadn't been killed off or abducted or something like that.Trying to, unfortunately my old group kind of fell apart, what with some of us moving away or not having time. Ironically, now that I have the time and enthusiasm to play, I don't have a group to play with >.<
Good to see you too Rags! Glad to see that Nicolai hasn't gotten himself killed XD
Hey, you got your old account back?
If you're in a position where you think you will be able to post regularly, and aren't likley to disapear again anytime soon, I'm happy for you to re-join the game. We can probably work something out ... Either you can create a new character and Brashen can keep playing Alton, or maybe he would prefer to make a new character and you can take up Alton again.
What do you think?
If the group ever move through this passage, I am planning a point soon where there is some downtime, it might be a good point to introduce a new character.
Thank you, and yes, I am actually doing pretty well now. School is no longer so boring that it takes away my will to live, and I'm no longer in a very...difficult and unstable relationship.
Yeah, sorry I stopped posting without even warning. For a long while I didn't have the motivation much less the enthusiasm to do much of anything, especially not something involving creativity.
And I'm glad that Alton has continued faithfully in his diminutive heroics; I had hoped that he hadn't been killed off or abducted or something like that.Trying to, unfortunately my old group kind of fell apart, what with some of us moving away or not having time. Ironically, now that I have the time and enthusiasm to play, I don't have a group to play with >.<
Good to see you too Rags! Glad to see that Nicolai hasn't gotten himself killed XD
Glad to hear it Arc!
I understand, (On all counts, but lets talk about the game group!) ;)
My old group keeps trying to get together over 'teh interwebs', but so far we have met with,... limited success,... :P
And No. Nicholai hasn't gotten himself killed yet, although it's probably not for lack of trying! :D
If you can jump back in the PbP saddle, I'd be happy to see you again! <crosses fingers>
I managed to figure out what the password was, although I no longer have access to the email address for the account.
I do have the time and, barring an kicks in the teeth from life, I would be very happy to rejoin the game. I'm open to introducing another character (a rogue-type character seems to be lacking), or taking the reins of Alton once more, as the group and Brashen prefers.
I hear you there Rags; I've tried to get at least some of my old group back together, but it just doesn't seem to work out.