Nick the Genius

With several members of my D&D group already posting their own game reports ( The Talking Bookcase , Untitled Games , and Mad Traditions ), and with me needing to stay more engaged with the game, I decided to do something a little different with mine. If you look to the right you will see I have added a new page, where I will be posting my reports. They are going to be dramatic retellings of our adventures, told through the eyes of my character, I am extremely rusty with my writing ability and greatly encourage feedback and criticisms. Enjoy.

<UPDATE> page removed, link to the story: part 1

Today the Large Hadron Collider (or the LHC) went online for the first time. It’s the world’s largest and most powerful particle accelerator, and may fundamentally change the way in which we view the universe.

Also, it may be the first thing that humans have created that has the possibility to annihilate the planet Earth.

I highly recommend that if you have even an ounce of scientific interest that you take the time to read up a little on it. At the very least check out the pictures, they will blow your mind.

LHC Homepage at CERN
Pictures of the LHC

When I was in grade school my parents, probably scared silly by Reagan era Republicans, refused to let me play D&D, because it was “demonic”. Leaving how ridiculous that is aside, I spent my childhood mostly immersed in single player video games.

As a result, while I have played pen and paper games several times, I have never really gotten that hang of them. Take for example the campaign I am currently playing. The group, except for me, is largely made up of experienced pen and paper players, most of whom have played several campaigns together. I, on the other hand, have only played several short lived games, most of which not D&D. That, coupled with my general lack of computational skills, and being used to games that hide all the number crunching from me, makes me a fish out of water.

I tend to spend a longer amount of time figuring out game mechanics than my fellow players. This means I have a hard time remembering how much to add to my rolls and in trying to figure out which ability I should use next. This makes me feel like I am always a step behind everyone else, and tend to just ask them what I should do next, instead of figuring it out for myself.

This makes it hard for me to keep my mind on the game. So, when a tiny break from the game winds down, and the story pick back up, I sometimes miss the cues to get my head back in the game. At best I miss some important information and at worst I cause the group to backtrack in order to catch me up. Trust me, when that happens it is as much embarrassing for me as it is annoying for the group.

I intend to spend more time making myself familiar with the rules of the game, in an attempt to make it easier for me to play. Perhaps, more than anything else, I need more practice, and to remember to pay attention.

We all wish that life was easy, that we never had to make hard decisions, and that nothing serious ever happened. That way we would never have to spend a moment worrying, never have to be held accountable for our decisions, and could spend all our time having fun.

Sadly, this is not the case.

Life is hard and short, and the serious outweighs the flippant. And yet every day I turn on the news and listen to a Republican speak you would never guess that anything in this world is serious. They treat their opponents like kids on the playground, war like it is a silly game of dodgeball, and buying healthcare like finding extra lunch money.

They think nothing of speaking out of both sides of their mouth: damning democrats for the littlest things while they perpetrate crimes against humanity. In one breath they say that the government should make abortion illegal and then say that it’s a private decision. Essentially: we want to tell you how to live your life, but we can do whatever we want with ours.

Somehow they think they are above everything, that their decisions effect no one, and that they deserve to be in power simply because they can talk the talk. To a Republican life is silly and unimportant. Power is something to be had for powers sake and if they run the world into the ground it’s our problem, not theirs. I have news for them: that’s how Paris Hilton runs her life, and no one wants her in public office.

Do the real world a favor and vote Democrat.

The other day one of my friends asked me if I would rather be a dragon or ride one. I immediately responded with: “be a dragon”. Suffice it to say, I like dragons. A lot.

Some would say that this is unhealthy and that I need psychiatric help. They are probably right.

This whole conversation came about because I play D&D with a good group of friends. The other day we came back from a month long hiatus and played a rousing 10 hour session that saw our group (who I insist on calling the Tunnel Inspection Team. Think about it.) level twice. We met many colorful characters, fought ruthless villains, found a boat to protect us, but the crowning moment was when I befriended a dragon.

Let me repeat that… I befriended a dragon.

It was the best thing ever.

His name is Merc, he is green, and we plan on hanging out next Saturday, maybe sit on some gold or something.