breakinglight11 | Entries tagged with spycraft

Been watching a lot of Burn Notice recently. It's a really damn good show. I love the premise of a guy who used to be an international covert operative who's suddenly blacklisted, and forced to make his way doing private operations while trying to figure out who burned him. Makes me want to run a Spycraft campaign with that setup-- a small campaign, like three people, maybe even a solo one, where you have the superspy cababilities but with the most localized setting and challenges, all the while unraveling the larger mystery of who put you out a job. I'd either have one player for the Michael, Sam, and Fiona characters, or I'd just have the Michael and everyone else be NPCs.

The upside of doing better on not biting my nails is that they look a hell of a lot better grown out so nicely. The downside is that they make it a lot harder to type on the keyboard.

Yesterday I played in Jared's Spycraft mod, Malpractice. I enjoyed playing it, and I enjoyed the story he came up with-- I like it when the twists and turns genuinely surprise me, and he put us through something I've never done before in Spycraft. He runs a lot more rules-heavy than I like, but his logic is if he learns how to adjudicate things according to the rules when they come up, he'll be prepared for them next time. Overall, a good game. I'm very proud of him for writing it. Cameo leveled up too. She's at level ten now; I'll have to go over her.

There is a large crowd in my living room today playing Twilight Imperium. It's apparently a complicated, multi-hour game, and it's taken a while to assemble a group large enough for the appropriate amount of time. I'm in my room trying to write my goddamn paper while all this is going on. It's not my kind of game, being long, rules-heavy, and strategy-based, but I'm not loving having to deal with schoolwork now when friends are around having fun.

This paper is due Tuesday, and I don't have all that much yet. It's a long paper too. I doubt I'll finish it tonight, but I'd love to have it out of my hair and have a little while to relax. *Sigh* Not much chance of that happening, I'm thinking.

I browsed around the Fair Trade Fair in the campus center yesterday, and bought a pretty square woven basket-- patially out of a desire to support the artisans, and partially because I've been wanting a nice basket to use as a serving dish. Maybe I'll lay a nice napkin inside it and use it for my upcoming artichoke fritters.

Today I ran Spycraft for a gang of Ryan, Taylor, Emma, and Bernie. It's a mod of my own creation, and I will be the first to tell you that it isn't that great. It's just that for a while it seemed like there weren't going to be any more pre-generated mods, and on top of that Bernie wanted to play once in a while instead of run, so I knocked out a quick and dirty story just so people would have something to play. In all honesty, it ran a lot better than I thought it would; some of the players enjoyed it at least most of the time, and I can conclude it's decently playable. It needs a good deal of editing, and it's got another problem inherent in the fact that its plot is a near-identical adaptation of a spy story from a different medium. Bernie ended up recognizing it, and that caused a bit of a problem. Ah, well. I think it could be cleaned up to be into a half-decent mod.

Heh. Between this, Alice, Woodsmen, and Oz... one of these days I need to do something that's not derivative. ;-)

And I totally just got Taylor to play "Sky Pirates" from TaleSpin on his computer for the whole group. Awesome.

Jared ran his original Spycraft mod Malpractice, the first in a series of original mods, yesterday for a small test group consisting of Matt, Emma, Taylor, and Ryan. He's been working on it for a long time and has been very eager to get it done. It sounds as if it went well, though not exactly as he planned. Heh, I know that feeling, probably anybody who's ever written a game does. Now I'm eager to be in a run of it. I couldn't yesterday because it was over the same time I was getting Bernie from the airport, but hey, if he edits the glitches out, I'll get to play it in the second run when it's even better. I made tiramisu to celebrate, but all the players had dispersed before I could give it to them, so it's still chilling in my fridge. I was a bit disappointed by that, I don't even know how they turned out. Maybe I'll track people down and force-feed them. Hm, actually, given that today is Monday, my non-stop-till-I-drop day, I probably won't have time. Well, go to Elsinore, people, and grab your personal-cup servings of tiramisu!

I just wrote half of a Spycraft mod. It's probably not any good, and it's not exactly original, and there's probably too much socialness and subtlety for most of the players in the group, but it's a new mod. Maybe I'll be able to finish and run it soon.

Today will probably be a lazy day. I got up late because of how obscenely late I stayed up the night before watching a movie with Jared and Bernie. Yesterday was Spycraft, in which Taylor ran a mod he'd written himself, and the movie Equilibrium had the character on which Bernie based his temporary shoot-'em-up Spycraft character. Not a bad flick, actually, for being one of those fight-scene-every-minute types.

I should do something. Definately run. I need to get back in the routine of going every day. I've been a little lazy and careless lately, so I'm a bit worried it's going to start affecting me. Maybe I'll start on my paper. It's not due till the tenth, but it'd probably be good for me to not leave it till Wednesday night, when I have to go to work.

Happy Easter, everyone. Not a bad weekend at all this time around.

Friday after a leisurely lunch with Jared, I ran over to the Natick mall to wander around for a few hours. I'm not a big shopper or anything, but I enjoy walking around looking at things and letting my mind wander. I also like it when I can get in long walks without really thinking about it; it's good exercise as well as a nice way to spend a day. I did buy a little bar of solid lotion at the Lush store that smells like white chocolate and feels delightful on my skin. I am something of a sucker for things that make me soft and smell nice. If BPAL made lotion, I'd be their best customer.

In the evening I played in Bernie's Paranoia game, which was a ton of fun. I also met Bernie's brother Joe, who is a really good guy despite the disproportionate amount of time he and Bernie spend being the Bobsey Twins. I actually got to be Team Leader this time, but it amused me to gun after Sheena. Only 'cause I love him, of course. Kindness's character kept getting me to test his various kinds of B3 cola, which had me variably high as a kite, hyper-crazy, or totally addicted-- and, being the ham that I am, I had to act out the effects. The best part was when I realized Mac's character had drunk the only other incredibly addictive vanilla variety, so I shot her open and started eating her to try and get some more of it. :-)

Saturday was Spycraft. The mod went very well, I was in a mod with Lise and Joe, and it only lasted a reasonable four hours, instead of the maddening typical six or seven. Jared got to debut his new character and things went went for him too. Joe also gave him some advice about the mod I want to write, which helped me fix one of the many stumbling blocks that have been keeping me from finishing the thing. The evening went to helping Sheena babysit his very cute nephew Alex.

Today on Easter Sunday I went to church, which was extremely crowded but very pleasant. Jared and I then went to a nice pizza lunch, and I hung around my room doing various things. Tonight I will be having dinner at Alex's place, and I will be breaking Lent with Jared and the red velvet cake he's making me for dessert.

All in all, very pleasant so far, and promises to end pleasantly as well.

Glad Tuesday and Wednesday are over. This weekend should be nice from here on out. Though not as nice as I'd hoped it would be. My parents were supposed to come up to be with my brother and I on Easter, but stuff came up so that they can't make it. Now I'm a bit out of luck. I've never not had any way to celebrate Easter before, so I'm kind of disappointed.

Instead, I'm hoping to game and get off campus. I've been in roleplay withdrawal for a while now. Friday nght I'll be playing in Bernie's Paranoia oneshot, and there may be a Spycraft game running on Saturday. In the evening I'll be helping Sheena babysit his nephew. Sunday is still open. I'm definately going to church, but since I can't be with my family, I'd like to maybe go to a nice dinner, or at least go somewhere fun. I've been wanting to go to the mall, either Burlington or Natick, for a while, so maybe I'll do that. Not the most traditional way to spend Easter, but I'd like to find some way to enjoy it.

Finally got through all the Empire materials and read my character sheet. I think I'm going to like her, she seems interesting and complex. I work very closely with another character, and I'm looking forward to finding out who plays him.

Going to Spycraft soon. There's a chance the mod Bernie wrote might not be able to run today, because Sharone won't be there. I'm pretty sure there's something in it specific to her character which he really might not want her to miss. But I'll go anyway and see if there's a game after all. I'll bring work with me, and try to do more on my screenplay. The first act is about half done at this point, so there's still a ways to go.

On another note, I think I will be going to that party tonight. It'll just be me, though, Jared can't make it. I'm afraid I don't know the address of the house, though, which if anyone can enlighten me about, I'd be very appreciative. Though perhaps it's best if I'm told through e-mail, so as not to put her home address out where anyone can see it.

Found my earring. :-) Thanks to everyone who cared enough about my trivial problem to ask me if I had.

Now I'm trying to figure out what to do with this weekend. My first concern is work; the first act of my screenplay is due this coming Tuesday. I need to have thirty pages and at the moment, I have less than ten. So this will take a huge chunk of my focus and time. And since I'm struggling so much with this class anyway, a class I want so badly to be good at, it's important to me that this thing not suck.

On Saturday, I believe Bernie will be running "Unconventional," his original Spycraft mod. I've been spoiled on the idea so I can't play it, but I like the idea a lot and would very much enjoy watching it run. So that would take a lot of my Saturday-- Spycraft is never a quick process. I can bring work with me, of course, especially since I won't be playing, but the chance of writing meaningfully without my full focus is anyone's guess. There's also a party I wouldn't mind going to, as it would make me very happy to have a chance to hang out with the host and the rest, but that will depend on where I am with work, and the position of the other factors in the equation.

I also need to start figuring out a costume for Game of Empire. I confess I have not yet read my character because I'm trying to get through all the background materials first; I get the impression that knowing the context will help a great deal in understanding my sheet. Last night

natbudinexpressed the opinion that he really liked me in this role, which I find extremely interesting. As for costuming, my first idea is to check out a shop on Moody Street that looks to sell Middle-Easterny-type clothing and things. I don't know yet what sort of things my character would wear, but I will shortly, and this place might be a good place to start. Perhaps, if I have time, a costume run will be in order, for anyone who's interested.

So, I suppose I'm thinking to spend pretty much all of today writing the screenplay, with the possible break taken if Bernie wants a second opinion on anything about "Unconventional" before he runs it. Saturday then can be given over to watching the mod run, and possibly even the party in the evening, all variables being constant, as Dave likes to say. Sunday I'm not sure about-- the only thing I know at the moment is I will be taking Jared to church with me, so he can observe and write on it for his Sociology of Religion class. Other than that, I probably will have to do more work, given that I seriously doubt I'll be able to finish everything on Friday. But perhaps it will be free enough that if anything else interesting arises, I will be able to participate. Perhaps it's not a firm plan, but it'll serve in the meantime.

It occurs to me now that because I tend to write about so many different things in a single entry, I am something of an abuser of tags. This one, at last count, has seventeen. Excessive, perhaps, but I like them. Chalk it up to my compulsive love of categorizing.

Current Mood: productive

Jared and I signed up for Game of Empire last night. We were back and forth about it for a long time, but now that we know some interesting fun people will be there, and we have secured crash space we can count on, we decided to go for it. Gotta mark it on my calendar.

First readthrough for Comedy of Errors tonight. It was fun and went very well. I'm trying to convince Sheena to give himself a very funny bit part. I doubt he'll go for it, but it would be the best director cameo ever. The vain part of me wishes I'd given myself one in Hamlet. ;-)

I have lots of work to get through. The first act of a screenplay to write, Chaucer in the original Middle English to read, a dramaturgical study guide to write for a Yuan Dynasty-era play the department is putting on, and maybe, if I have time, actually get to work on my Spycraft mod. Bernie just got back from Israel, so Spycraft should be getting underway again. I also applied for a creative writing internship that is ACTUALLY PAID, hail and hallelujah, which will only add to my workload, but might by the grace of God help me get a real job someday.

God, for more than twenty-four hours in a day.

I woke up in the middle of the night with an apparently spontaneous nosebleed. I used to get those fairly frequently, but this was the first time in a while. Luckily it was just a small one. Heh, you can't get much more stereotypically dork than spontaneous nosebleeds, can you? All I need now is a pocket protector, some orthopedic shoes, and a Star Trek obsession.

I just came back from a good workout, so after a shower and some lunch, I will be ready to attack my plan for the day. Today I want to really buckle down on my work of all kinds, writing in particular. My assignments:

- Start work on my screenplay for class
- Continue working out my Spycraft mod
- Figure out if I can't throw a larp together for Festival (I know, I'm crazy, but the urge, she is strong)

There's always the strong likelihood I'll just get distracted by watching Scrubs or something, but hope springs eternal, right?

Indeed my dreams are weird. But last night's was good, not to mention unusually vivid. Fun. :-)

I love clementines. They're like tasty miniature oranges that are much easier to peel. A good juicy snack for me.

I've been playing Mario Galaxy with my brother Casey. I've also gotten into Prince of Persia, on Jared and Mac's recommendation. It has been very pleasant at my house, video gaming-wise.

Need to get cracking on my Spycraft mod. I finished the first scene, and the lovely, wonderful

electric_d_monk wrote up a guide to statting mods for me which promises to be of enormous use, but while I have a conception of what the rest should look like, it hasn't completely coalesced. I'd really like ot be able to run this soon, so I NEED TO FINISH.

So I've been working on my Spycraft mod. This is tougher than I thought it'd be. But I've actually made some progress; I think I've got the opening scene finished. It's a combat scene, which is probably good, since I think this is going to end up being a fairly combat-light mod. Also gear-light, because I despise gearing up. They'll be a few things necessary, so the item-oriented players are happy, but they may just get a mission bundle and have to figure out what's useful and what's not. It should also be a very light-hearted mod, supposed to be fun and funny and kind of silly. Most of the play will be either just plain having fun, with some problem-solving and puzzling-out to make things interesting.

Though it probably won't happen, I want to try and finish it by the time we get back to school. I'd really like to run it soon. The Spycraft group will be big enough by then that I can run it twice-- hope the first group doesn't mind being guinea pigs for a novice GC. I'm actually a little worried about statting the thing; this sort of thing is my weak point. The natural person to ask for help is Bernie, but I think I'd like him to play in it, so I don't want to go running to him unless I absolutely can't do it on my own.

I like running games, and I like having people play out my stories, so this'll be fun if I can pull it off.

It's been a fun past couple of days. I finally knocked out my horrible, horrible screenplay and I'm making good progress on the studying I have for my two sitdown finals. In addition, I've spent a lot of time with lovely people, including Jared and I hanging with

zapfand a great gang at Toby's place that included

in_water_writ. I'd forgotten just how much I missed her until I got ot be with her just now. She's had a lot to deal with lately, but I hope that things even out for next semester and I get to spend more time with her.

The following are gaming related tasks I hope to at least work on over the break:

1. Work on Cameo for Spycraft.

She's not properly leveled at the moment, so I need to go over her. Of course, if Bernie institutes the level bump he's been talking about, I may just remake her from the ground up, and then it won't be worth it to bring her up to fifth level.

2. Finish Lisani for Kindness's campaign

My cleric is almost done, but I need to make sure there's nothing I left out. I wish I had some kind of checklist to remind me of all the steps of building a character, because I always seem to forget something. Now that I think about it, I have the same problem with leveling as well.

3. Edit Alice for Intercon

Jared and I have a good deal of edits that we have planned but haven't actually made yet. The break should give us time to actually do them.

Those are the definates. Now for the maybes:

1. Brainstorm for Spycraft mod.

Still not sure if I'm actually going to write one, but if I have the time, maybe I'll give it a shot. I need to examine mods I've already been in for formatting issues.

2. Work on Men of Respect

It's not a priority right now because Alice needs to get edited before long, but it'd be nice. I'm toying with the idea of bidding it for Festival of the Larps, but I know Jared isn't keen on bidding something that isn't finished, so he might not be into the idea.

3. Think about a Zelda campaign

A while ago Jared gave me a Legend of Zelda D20 sourcebook, and as an enormous fan of the games, I'd love to be in a campaign of one. Sheena, the darling, has offered to DM for me, but I'm torn between wanting to play in it and wanting to run it. I'll have to come to a decision over the break if it's ever going to happen.

That's all for now, I may think of more later. But there's a good chunk of work to be done.

By the way, Ducky's name is now Horatio. Jared picked it out.

Tonight was the Borg auction. I bought a little stuffed duck. He's a very cute little mallard. I need to name him; I can't just keep calling him Ducky.

Bernie has asked me about possibly writing a Spycraft mod. I don't know if I'll be able to do it, but maybe I'll give it a shot. I may have an inkling of an idea.

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Burn Notice campaign
Malpractice and Twilight Imperium
Original Spycraft mod
The first run of Malpractice
Half a mod
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Easter Weekend Report
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Saturday of the plan
Planning
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All Eyes on Me

"Do you know why heroes boast? Because it makes them brave."

Entries tagged with spycraft

Burn Notice campaign

Malpractice and Twilight Imperium

Original Spycraft mod

The first run of Malpractice

Half a mod

(no subject)

Easter Weekend Report

(no subject)

Saturday of the plan

Planning

Stuff update

(no subject)

Stuff

Spycraft mod

(no subject)

Ducky and Spycraft

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October 2025

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