D&D Encounters, Season Two, Encounter 1-1

So D&D Encounters Season Two is off to a pretty good start. The Lord Admiral and I headed down to our FLGS to roll some dice and kill some monsters on the desert planet of Athas. I am playing as Jarvix the Tiefling, and he's playing as Shikirr the Thri-Kreen. It is my opinion that he and I snatched up the best two characters out of the six.

This encounter was fairly straightforward. The caravan we were travelling with was hit hard by a sand storm. Sand storms are a pretty common occurrence on Athas, but this was no ordinary sandstorm. This was filled with shards of obsidian. A sand storm like this happens rare enough for it to be considered legendary. Anyway, the storm ripped through the caravan during the night, destroying most of the supplies and killing most of the caravaneers. The encounter started the following morning with the six survivors. Our main task was to gather supplies from the wrecked caravan tent, before continuing to travel toward out destination, Tyr.

However, we realized that there were hungry lizard-men around, and we looked tasty. So while gathering supplies, we also had to defend ourselves against these lizard-men (some of whom were armed with blowguns with immobilizing darts). It soon became clear that we couldn't really stick around for long, as the lizard-men had called for reinforcements, who were on their way. At some point, the objective changed from "kill lizard-men" to "get the hell out of there!" Which we did.

The encounter went pretty well, for the most part. Our DM is great; he provides very good descriptions of the action. Something I'd like to work on in my home game. The players were mostly good, too. Some of them were clearly less-experienced than the others, but that's okay. This is a good way to introduce them to D&D 4e, and they didn't slow things down _too_ much. ;)

There were several cool moments I'd like to mention:

• I got the first kill! Jarvix is a psion, and he totally rocks. Near the start of the encounter, our Mul, Yuka, had left the caravan tent and grabbed one of the lizard-men. However, this caused a couple other lizard-men to surround him and flank him. So on my turn, after casually grabbing a couple packs of supplies, I hit one of the lizard-men with my Mind Thrust, causing his head to basically explode. So that was cool. ;)
• Not too long after that, Yuka was holding one of the smaller lizard-men, and being attacked by the larger lizard-man. Then our human sorcerer, Barcan, hit the big lizard-man with Excise From Sight, causing him to not be able to see Yuka. Our DM was great at describing how the big lizard-man was seeing one of the smaller lizard-men just kind of suspended in the air, with blood dripping off him and just pausing, suspended in mid-air.
• Speaking of Barcan, poor guy. He really does not have very good defenses. I think he took the first damage of the fight, which was enough to nearly kill him in a single hit. All told, he was knocked unconscious twice, I think, maybe three times.
• Similarly, our poor elf, Castri, was also knocked unconscious two or three times. In fact, he was unconscious at the end of the encounter, when he was literally carried off the map by Yuka.
• Barcan did have a cool moment, earning his player Renown Points for "Moment of Greatness" (I think that's what they called it). Basically, near the end of the encounter, he was unconscious, again, and it was time for his player to roll her saving throw. She rolled a natural 20, reviving him. Then on Barcan's next turn, he attacked one of the lizard-men who had attacked him earlier, calling down the "Ray of the Moon", if I remember correctly. Once again, a natural 20, utterly frying the lizard-man. Rolling two natural 20s in a row, and going from being on death's door to crispifying the enemies was certainly good enough for some "Moment of Greatness" points!

All told, it went really well and I think everyone had a good time. My only complaints were that the materials WotC produced for this were obviously rushed. The art did not match the characters' descriptions at all, and I think every single character sheet had at least a few typos on it. I read on another blog that some of the skills and stuff were even calculated incorrectly, but I haven't looked into that myself. Still, nice job, WotC. I hope they release errata-ized character sheets at some point during this season, but honestly, I kind of doubt they will. I assume we'll get new character sheets when we hit Level 2, anyway, so it's probably mostly pointless to release errata-ized versions of the current character sheets.

I didn't quite get a chance to use all of my Encounter Powers, though. I used most of them, but I have one called Send Thoughts that I can use twice per encounter. It lets me telepathically send up to 25 words to someone, and allows them to respond in kind, as a free action. This is potentially useful, but the situation last night just didn't call for it. I actually thought abou tusing it a couple times to threaten the enemy or throw out a pithy one-liner before killing them, but decided against it. Mainly because I couldn't think of anything clever to say. ;) The other one I didn't use is called Infernal Wrath, and it allows me to have a bonus on my next attack roll against a given creature, and deal extra damage if the attack hits. However, it can only be used on someone who had hit me since my previous turn. I was not hit at all during this encounter, so I never got a chance to use that one. Not really complaining about that, though. ;) I felt a little bit bad about having not taken any damage at all, when two characters had both nearly died multiple times, and I think everyone else used at least 1 or 2 Healing Surges, but I didn't feel too bad about it. Not my fault if Jarvix kicks ass.

Looking forward to next week's encounter!

Should I Cancel My Facebook Account?

Every so often, someone will post an article in Google Reader or Twitter or whatever about "Reasons to Cancel Your Facebook Account." And I have to say, some of the reasons I've read in some of those articles are pretty compelling, and I have certainly been tempted to cancel my FB account. I already canceled my Myspace a little while ago, and have not looked back. Granted, the little time I spend on FB (maybe an average of 15 minutes a week? If that?) is still much more time than I have spent on Myspace in years ...

Anyway, so I'm wondering if anyone has compelling reasons to _not_ cancel one's Facebook account. These could be general ("I like my FB because of ...") or specific ("I think you specifically, Kyle, should remain on FB because of ...").

Let it be known that I am still undecided. I might cancel it. I might keep it. If I keep it, it's unlikely I'll spend any more time on it than I do currently. But I'm open to thoughts and suggestions.

I Had a Dream Last Night

Well actually, it was this morning, not last night. I know this because I got up to go to the bathroom, then went back to bed, and this happened after that.

I already told this dream to a couple of people, and was going to tell more, but then I figured rather than re-telling the story over and over to anyone who does not appear to be dreadfully bored by my telling, I'd just post it here. :) Supposedly, recording your dreams when you remember them (or telling someone, or whatever) helps you to remember them more often, so here we go.

So this morning, I dreamed that there had been a power outage during the night, and thus my alarm clock did not go off and wake me up at the proper time. By the time I actually woke up, figured out what had happened, and figured out what time it actually was, it was 11:00 AM. So I basically decided "Screw it; at this point, I might as well just take the day off as a sick day." So, for some unremembered reason (no doubt it made perfect sense in dream-logic), I then tried to borrow various people's phones in order to call Ryan and ask him to email my boss to say that I wouldn't be coming in. For some reason, this wasn't working out and I couldn't get a hold of Ryan. I don't remember the details any more, but I do remember one moment of someone who's phone I was trying to borrow saying that they didn't have Ryan's number in their phone, so I looked it up in my phone and started telling them. I no longer have any idea of what happened with that and why that didn't work out, but it didn't, for whatever reason. Eventually, I gave up on trying to contact Ryan, and decided that I could probably send the "I'm sick today" email myself. So then I began trying to borrow various people's phones so I could send that email! I remember having all sorts of difficulties with that too, although I can no longer remember what said difficulties were. In the end, before the situation got resolved, my actual alarm clock did go off and wake me up for real. Last I remember in the dream, it was now 1:00 PM and I still hadn't managed to alert anyone at the office that I would not be coming in that day. LOL.

Ninja Pirates and Pirate Ninjas

There exists two hybrid groups that are probably more deadly than either non-hybrid group they are based on. Pirate Ninjas and Ninja Pirates. One is a group of ninjas who are like pirates in that they have no morals, they drink and swear, and they might have eyepatches and/or peglegs. The other is a group of pirates who are like ninjas in that they are very stealthy and cunning, wear lots of black, and are generally similar to Wesley in The Princess Bride. (He is very clearly a pirate, even though he dresses in black and is stealthy.) So the question is, which is which?

This is a very controversial issue, and I expect there to be some disagreement on it, but here's how I see it. In either phrase, the second word is a noun and the first word is an adjective. When I say "ninja pirate", I am referring to a pirate who shares characteristics with ninjas, like Wesley. "Ninja" is the type of pirate he is.

"What kind of pirate is he?" "Oh, he's a ninja pirate."

Thus, "pirate ninja" would be a ninja who has gone all piratical. He loses his morals and starts to drink, swear, conduct raids, etc.

"Oh, he's a ninja?" "Yes, and the most dangerous kind, too. A pirate ninja."

There is a comic called "Brick House" that features an ongoing story line that invovles both pirate ninjas and ninja pirates. But I think the comician is using the terms in the opposite way that I would. "Ninja pirates have all the stealth and power of the ninja, but with none of the ethical holdbacks or concerns about honor. In those areas they are as bloodthirsty as any pirate." (http://www.reasonablyclever.com/bh/83.html) So he is considering a ninja who takes on piratical ways to be a ninja pirate, whereas I would consider that ninja to be a pirate ninja.

What do you think? Which one is which? Please comment with your opinion, and please include your reasoning! Once we settle on terminology, we can begin debating which one would win in a fight, but that's a topic for a separate post.

Oooh, Very Brief Internet Fame!

Woah, I just got RTed by a famous person!

Cheap Entertainment

I present for your consideration a real, actual blog post about a real, actual thing that happened to me today on my way home from work.

Usually, when a Street Person asks me for change, I say "Sorry, I don't have any." And usually when I say that, it's actually true. I rarely have coins on my person. Sometimes, though, when I do actually have change, I enjoy giving it out just for the privilege of listening to the Street Person's monologue for a few minutes. That was the case today as I was walking home from work. I learned the following interesting facts from a guy:

• He's going to buy beer. It might not be from 7-11 (which we were outside of), but he's going to buy beer.
• It has apparently been scientifically shown that cigarettes are good for you. (I'm not sure where he got that one.)
• All these psychological disorders, and all the pills you take for them, well, it has been shown that the pills are not only useless, but actually counterproductive.
• What would you think about people who were your friends, but betrayed you because you drink beer and smoke the occasional cigarette? All like "Oooh, he drinks beer! He's such an asshole! He's going to become an alcoholic!" What would you think of that? (I know, this isn't a fact. But it's still interesting. He didn't wait for my answer before moving on.)
• Psychological disorders are caused by your grandfather wanting to see you unconscious. Or other severe trauma.
• His, if anything, would be a case of severe depression, not bipolar disorder.
• He's 33. He started smoking weed when he was 13, and started dropping acid when he was 16.
• These people who hear things that aren't there, they must be hearing something. They must be hearing SOMEthing. They must be hearing SOOOOMEthing. (Emphasis his, not mine. I'm not sure where he was going with this, as he then started talking about something else.)
• A few years ago (seven, I think he said), he was diagnosed with schizo affective disorder. He has found that the only treatment that works is beer, exercise, and healthy eating.
• Fuck his friends, anyway. They're not really friends. They're just acquaintances who happen to be comforted by having people around them. (Actually, this one is from a different guy, who stopped to ask us if either one of us had a lighter he could use. I did not; the dude did.)

All these facts were delivered in a single very disjointed monologue, interrupted only occasionally by me saying "Yeah", "Mmmhmm", "Uh huh", etc. Also to answer a couple direct questions to me, such as "Do you smoke cigarettes?" and "Are you a psychology major?" That's right. He didn't ask what I study, or even if I was a student, just went straight to "Are you a psychology major?"

Aaaah, the joys of living in Berkeley.

I also gave a couple coins to a different guy, and I think I pissed him off a little bit. He asked for change, so I started reaching into my pocket and pulling out the coins I had, he held something out, and I dropped my coins into it. Then, I realized it was his drink. A large can of something alcoholic, wrapped in a paper bag. He offered me a drink, I pretended to take a small sip and handed it back. He asked me to "pop a squat" and drink with him, but I told him I was in a hurry, and started walking away. So he told me again to pop a squat, and was holding his drink, with my coins in it, out to me. So I just kinda laughed and kept walking. Poor dude. I hope he finishes his drink, and gets my coins out of it. I didn't really mean to do that; I was just trying to help a little bit. ;-)

Stolen Bike Club

So, I am now a member of the club referenced in the title of this post. It sucks. I biked home from work on Friday, as I typically do, and locked my bike in our downstairs bike storage room in our apartment building. In case you didn't quite catch that, let me rephrase: as of 7:00 PM Friday evening, my bike was LOCKED in a ROOM behind a LOCKED DOOR that was LOCKED. Then, Monday morning, when I left to go to work, I discovered that my bike was gone. Missing. Nowhere to be seen in the bike room. It looked to me like nothing else was missing. I saw all the bikes I normally see in there; only mine was gone. So I swore and cursed a lot, and then walked to work.

A few thoughts about this went through my head as I walked. I was trying to think of what might have happened. One possibility is that I forgot to lock the bike room Friday night. I ruled this out immediately; when it comes to important things like keys and locks, I am VERY MUCH a creature of habit, and my habit is to lock the bike room doorknob as soon as I open it, even before I go in to leave or retrieve my bike. Another possibility is that another tenant of this building forgot to lock the bike room door. Of course, if that were the case, that would mean that someone just randomly happened to forget to lock the door on the same day that some punk just randomly happened to try the knob. Possible, but pretty unlikely. (I should mention here that, in the past 2.5 years of me using the bike store room 5 days a week, I don't think it's _ever_ been accidentally left unlocked by anyone. At least, not that I've ever seen.) Another possibility is that someone picked the lock, which is certainly possible, if they are skilled enough. I didn't see signs of forced entry, though. Nothing about the door seemed damaged at all. I don't know what signs, if any, would be left behind if someone picked a lock. So maybe someone picked the lock and was in a hurry, so just grabbed the first bike available, which was mine.

Finally, it's possible someone who shouldn't have a key has one. There's a guy who used to work for CDSP as a maintenance / groundskeeping type guy, and I suspect he might have something to do with it. He was fired several months ago for a variety of unpleasant reasons, and a couple months after he was fired, several bikes went missing from the CDSP dorm building, again, bikes that were behind a locked door. But that's a whole other story. Anyway, I suspect maybe it was him. I don't know of anyone else who would potentially have a key, especially since all of our doors in this apartment building had their locks replaced not that long ago.

Anyway, so this evening, our doorbell rings, I answer it, and it's our apartment building manager, telling me that he has joined my club; his bike was stolen too. It was there yesterday (Monday), but gone today (Tuesday). So - two bikes were stolen from a locked door within 2-4 days. I think that effectively rules out even the possibility that the door was accidentally left unlocked. I think either someone's picking it, or someone has a key.

Anyway, Jim (the apartment manager who lost his bike) is going to report to the police. I've got a friend who was planning on selling his bike on Craigslist, who will probably just give it to me instead (after I check it out to make sure it fits me, etc.), and in the meantime, I'll just walk to work. It probably takes more energy to walk to and from work than it does to bike, and that's probably good for me anyway. So. I am now officially a victim of what I hear is the most common crime in Berkeley. I never thought I would be a victim of this particular crime here in Berkeley, since my bike was behind locked doors 99% of the time (it gets, or rather, got locked inside at work, and was locked inside the bike room at home). Crazy, eh?

P.S. In completely unrelated news, did you all know that Scott Adams, creator of Dilbert, has read this particular post? He posted on his blog once that he has set up a Google Alert that will notify him whenever his name, Scott Adams, turns up on the internet. He said something about how it's like being a fly on the wall, because no one ever expects him to be reading their dinky little blog. So, now that I have included his name, Scott Adams, three separate times in this post, Google will pick it up, and will let him know that he was mentioned, and he will come read this post. Hi Scott! I know this post doesn't have anything at all to do with you, so I'll just include a small amount of fanboyism here for you. Santa brought us Dilbert 2.0 for Christmas, and it was fantastic. I only wish it had even more in it. ;-) I haven't yet delved into the DVD, however, so I guess there's still plenty for me to read.

UPDATE: So Jim called the cops, who came over and talked to him for a little while, and then talked to me as well. We've got case numbers and everything. (Separate case numbers, presumably since they happened at different times.) The cop referred to the perpetrator as the "bad guy." Seriously. We were talking about how we think it was probably Sunday night and Monday night, and the cop said something about how we should make sure everyone who has bikes in that room has moved them, because "The bad guy could be back in 30 minutes, an hour, 2 hours, 5 hours."