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cards and revelations
Aug. 24th, 2006 11:52 amLast night I went down to Gauntlet Games for some card playing. I felt a little odd driving there, because this is the first time since Gencon that I had gone and, well, it's not every day you get added to the L5R story team.
When I walked in Hobie and Marty were standing at the front counter. Hobie saw me and made some remark about the new story person. I tried to think of something cool to say in reply but grinned like an idiot instead. We chit-chatted and then they started razzing me over the fact that I'd mentioned Jeremy in my LJ but not them--hadn't they helped me learn to play, too? So in the interest of accuracy I'll add that Hobie and Marty, along with the rest of the Comic World playgroup, also taught me how to play L5R--and how much fun L5R players are to hang out with.
After talking for a while I wandered back to the play area and found to my delight multiple L5R games in progress. I had been worried that the game was dying out for good in Lincoln at the time I was ready to start playing again, but maybe it was just dormant. (And: Eight years ago if you told me that I would someday be passionately in love with a collectable card game I would have laughed at you. I played role playing games, thankyouverymuch, not that card junk. Isn't life strange?) Anyway, I settled down to a game with a young man with a Scorpion ninjutsu/dueling deck. I regret not remembering his name, but most of the players at Gauntlet are new to me and I am horrible at remembering names. I'm still playing the pre-built Crane deck out of the Training Grounds set because I've been too busy to build one of my own. (At this point, everyone's figured out what I'm busy doing, right?)
The game lasts a long time and I manage to crawl to 40 honor before he shows up to take my last two provinces. At some point I realize that I could have won one of the previous battles if I had remembered what Venerable Master and House of the Fallen Blossom do. It wouldn't have changed the outcome of the game, but it made me decide that there is no point in trying to build myself a deck until I completely figure out how to play this one. I should also crack the shrink wrap on the Dragon deck too, and learn to play it.
Towards the end, when my opponent and I have huge armies on the table, Jeremy walks by and says that someone should drop an atomic bomb right in the middle, and then we'd have two clans gone. This triggers the following exchange:
Me: What, you don't think it's bad enough for the Crane that I'm on the story team?
Jeremy: Hey, you on the team will be good for the Crane.
Me: I can always spot the ones who haven't read my fanfic. It's not a good story unless someone is in pain.
As I drive home I think about my 'in pain' comment. I don't really believe that--I'm sure that good stories can be written about joy--but thinking over my accumulated fanfic I can't point to one that doesn't somehow involve someone being in some kind of pain. Many of them involve characters who resolved their pain and went on to something better, but that isn't quite the same thing. I think maybe I should broaden myself as a writer by writing something totally happy. *looks at list of story assignments* But not just yet.
When I walked in Hobie and Marty were standing at the front counter. Hobie saw me and made some remark about the new story person. I tried to think of something cool to say in reply but grinned like an idiot instead. We chit-chatted and then they started razzing me over the fact that I'd mentioned Jeremy in my LJ but not them--hadn't they helped me learn to play, too? So in the interest of accuracy I'll add that Hobie and Marty, along with the rest of the Comic World playgroup, also taught me how to play L5R--and how much fun L5R players are to hang out with.
After talking for a while I wandered back to the play area and found to my delight multiple L5R games in progress. I had been worried that the game was dying out for good in Lincoln at the time I was ready to start playing again, but maybe it was just dormant. (And: Eight years ago if you told me that I would someday be passionately in love with a collectable card game I would have laughed at you. I played role playing games, thankyouverymuch, not that card junk. Isn't life strange?) Anyway, I settled down to a game with a young man with a Scorpion ninjutsu/dueling deck. I regret not remembering his name, but most of the players at Gauntlet are new to me and I am horrible at remembering names. I'm still playing the pre-built Crane deck out of the Training Grounds set because I've been too busy to build one of my own. (At this point, everyone's figured out what I'm busy doing, right?)
The game lasts a long time and I manage to crawl to 40 honor before he shows up to take my last two provinces. At some point I realize that I could have won one of the previous battles if I had remembered what Venerable Master and House of the Fallen Blossom do. It wouldn't have changed the outcome of the game, but it made me decide that there is no point in trying to build myself a deck until I completely figure out how to play this one. I should also crack the shrink wrap on the Dragon deck too, and learn to play it.
Towards the end, when my opponent and I have huge armies on the table, Jeremy walks by and says that someone should drop an atomic bomb right in the middle, and then we'd have two clans gone. This triggers the following exchange:
Me: What, you don't think it's bad enough for the Crane that I'm on the story team?
Jeremy: Hey, you on the team will be good for the Crane.
Me: I can always spot the ones who haven't read my fanfic. It's not a good story unless someone is in pain.
As I drive home I think about my 'in pain' comment. I don't really believe that--I'm sure that good stories can be written about joy--but thinking over my accumulated fanfic I can't point to one that doesn't somehow involve someone being in some kind of pain. Many of them involve characters who resolved their pain and went on to something better, but that isn't quite the same thing. I think maybe I should broaden myself as a writer by writing something totally happy. *looks at list of story assignments* But not just yet.
