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Word spew!
Apr. 16th, 2013 04:58 pmWherein I talk a lot.
Being surprised can be odd sometimes. Why is it that someone can yell at me from across the house without my being at all surprised, yet someone coming up and speaking normally five feet behind me can scare the ever-loving crap out of me? In neither case am I expecting it, and I would think the louder one would be more likely to startle, but no. We are such odd creations.
I have been, slowly, trying to relearn how to write in cursive. Having pretty much never used it, I am decidedly rusty. My knowledge of capitals in particular is nearly non-existent. At present I pretty much only know the ones in my name, so like 3. My normal letters are better, though my implementation can be iffy at times. I am able to write well in some cases, but it is slow and in bursts. It is definitely not second nature yet to be able to write without thinking about it. I tend to write very small and precise, neither of which transfers over terribly well to cursive. It will be better when I am able to write words out whole without having to stop midway and briefly figure out how to do the next letter. There are a few words thus far that I am able to so do, and they are lovely to behold and quickly done.
Certain letters are most assuredly giving me grief, however. Ms and Ns I've always had difficulty with; I often can't tell if I need to add another hump. Rs annoy me, because they can be easily mistaken for Us or Ns, and give me much frustration when following Os. My As and Os sometimes get switched when I'm trying to write quickly; I'm not really sure how to rectify that one, though. My Vs and Ws also cause me to slow down fairly often in order to remember to end them up top. I am getting better, but am annoyed by how I cannot yet express myself at anywhere near the speed at which I think, as I am better able to with script.
On another topic, I've been thinking a bit of DnD characters and campaigns. I have ever so many ideas that I would love to one day see implemented. I'm not sure if I myself could ever DM cohesively enough to implement them all, but I thought I could at lease put them down and excise them until needed.
First, I've been thinking about the mechanics of character creation and acting in character. I once heard about how Mouseguard gives each person individual character traits, for which they gain or lose bonuses by adhering to. Sometimes, rather than just create their own, a DM will provide players with premade characters. From what I've seen, though, they do not usually contain much else than race and class. I think it'd be cool to provide people with character traits and classes, not even necessarily caring about race; they could pick that on their own. The idea came to me thinking about odd combinations. The first was of a cowardly paladin. The second was of a thief with a heart of gold, ala Robin Hood. I would be much amused to have a thief who would constantly rob people, even his own teammates, in order to give it to someone else; almost like forced socialism on an individual scale. If you've ever seen the Dennis Moore sketch from Monty Python, I think along similar lines.
I think it would make for an interesting experiment to see the unique spins people might give to such characters. Creativity can often be enhanced by boundaries. Why a knight/paladin might be cowardly, or how cowardly they are, or even if they eventually overcome it or not, could make for an intriguing study. This is particularly true when it comes to people who play more themselves regardless of character. I notice that regardless of character and personality I give to my creations, there are definitely specific personal traits that come through all of them. I am often impatient and goofy, but also very business-like in battle, no matter who I play as. So how different people would mold the same character/trait interests me greatly.
I also had an idea or two for dungeons. So often they are dark, for which most people come equipped, not to mention how many of them have dark or low-light vision. But what about a dungeon that is magically, painfully bright? I would think that those with enhanced eyes would suddenly be at a disadvantage, like a -2 to accuracy or detecting things. I would totally remove the disadvantage for anyone smart enough to wrap their eyes with a very thin, see-through silk or fabric to negate it. Having recently played Mines of Madness at PAX, their new, creative twist on the Tomb of Horrors, combined with the clone idea from Paranoia, I have an awesome idea for murdering all my characters repeatedly. Think of a dungeon/tower wherein nearly everything will kill or maim, but is enchanted to resurrect the character, but subtracting from a shared pool of lives for the whole group. Not only that, but I would later, after a number of deaths, let the players know that each death and resurrection causes their characters to become more and more unhinged/terrified/crazy/etc. You could start rolling a die to see if the character actually does what they want it to, or if they do something rash instead, or start cringing away, or whatever. You have to think that repeated, painful deaths would cause odd responses from people, be it increased, reckless foolishness, paranoia, or fear.
Being surprised can be odd sometimes. Why is it that someone can yell at me from across the house without my being at all surprised, yet someone coming up and speaking normally five feet behind me can scare the ever-loving crap out of me? In neither case am I expecting it, and I would think the louder one would be more likely to startle, but no. We are such odd creations.
I have been, slowly, trying to relearn how to write in cursive. Having pretty much never used it, I am decidedly rusty. My knowledge of capitals in particular is nearly non-existent. At present I pretty much only know the ones in my name, so like 3. My normal letters are better, though my implementation can be iffy at times. I am able to write well in some cases, but it is slow and in bursts. It is definitely not second nature yet to be able to write without thinking about it. I tend to write very small and precise, neither of which transfers over terribly well to cursive. It will be better when I am able to write words out whole without having to stop midway and briefly figure out how to do the next letter. There are a few words thus far that I am able to so do, and they are lovely to behold and quickly done.
Certain letters are most assuredly giving me grief, however. Ms and Ns I've always had difficulty with; I often can't tell if I need to add another hump. Rs annoy me, because they can be easily mistaken for Us or Ns, and give me much frustration when following Os. My As and Os sometimes get switched when I'm trying to write quickly; I'm not really sure how to rectify that one, though. My Vs and Ws also cause me to slow down fairly often in order to remember to end them up top. I am getting better, but am annoyed by how I cannot yet express myself at anywhere near the speed at which I think, as I am better able to with script.
On another topic, I've been thinking a bit of DnD characters and campaigns. I have ever so many ideas that I would love to one day see implemented. I'm not sure if I myself could ever DM cohesively enough to implement them all, but I thought I could at lease put them down and excise them until needed.
First, I've been thinking about the mechanics of character creation and acting in character. I once heard about how Mouseguard gives each person individual character traits, for which they gain or lose bonuses by adhering to. Sometimes, rather than just create their own, a DM will provide players with premade characters. From what I've seen, though, they do not usually contain much else than race and class. I think it'd be cool to provide people with character traits and classes, not even necessarily caring about race; they could pick that on their own. The idea came to me thinking about odd combinations. The first was of a cowardly paladin. The second was of a thief with a heart of gold, ala Robin Hood. I would be much amused to have a thief who would constantly rob people, even his own teammates, in order to give it to someone else; almost like forced socialism on an individual scale. If you've ever seen the Dennis Moore sketch from Monty Python, I think along similar lines.
I think it would make for an interesting experiment to see the unique spins people might give to such characters. Creativity can often be enhanced by boundaries. Why a knight/paladin might be cowardly, or how cowardly they are, or even if they eventually overcome it or not, could make for an intriguing study. This is particularly true when it comes to people who play more themselves regardless of character. I notice that regardless of character and personality I give to my creations, there are definitely specific personal traits that come through all of them. I am often impatient and goofy, but also very business-like in battle, no matter who I play as. So how different people would mold the same character/trait interests me greatly.
I also had an idea or two for dungeons. So often they are dark, for which most people come equipped, not to mention how many of them have dark or low-light vision. But what about a dungeon that is magically, painfully bright? I would think that those with enhanced eyes would suddenly be at a disadvantage, like a -2 to accuracy or detecting things. I would totally remove the disadvantage for anyone smart enough to wrap their eyes with a very thin, see-through silk or fabric to negate it. Having recently played Mines of Madness at PAX, their new, creative twist on the Tomb of Horrors, combined with the clone idea from Paranoia, I have an awesome idea for murdering all my characters repeatedly. Think of a dungeon/tower wherein nearly everything will kill or maim, but is enchanted to resurrect the character, but subtracting from a shared pool of lives for the whole group. Not only that, but I would later, after a number of deaths, let the players know that each death and resurrection causes their characters to become more and more unhinged/terrified/crazy/etc. You could start rolling a die to see if the character actually does what they want it to, or if they do something rash instead, or start cringing away, or whatever. You have to think that repeated, painful deaths would cause odd responses from people, be it increased, reckless foolishness, paranoia, or fear.
