01 January 2023

Best Wishes for 2023

I hope that all reading this old blog had a pleasant holiday time and that the year ahead brings them much happiness and peace.

 

My wife kindly got me these cookies. Obviously, she knows me well! I felt a bit guilty eating them but comforted myself in the knowledge that more could be obtained in the future.

 

 

I haven’t been too active here over the past couple of months. Hopefully my posting rate will pick up in the spring, as I thankfully will not have to travel so much for work.

 

In particular, I’d like to catch up on the following items:

 

§  Update the log for my regular “Greyhawk” (D&D 5e) campaign. A lot has happened since I last posted, some of it even a bit entertaining (I think).

o   The adventurers finally managed to defeat Lareth and clear out the Moathouse (more or less); soon they will be moving beyond Hommlet.

 

§  Update the status of my irregular “Against the Witch-King (Against the Darkmaster) campaign.

o    Most of the characters have been created – and they’re an interesting mix: a DĂșnadan lady of Arthedain (a champion or “ranger”); two Lossoth brothers from Forochel (one a scout, the other a shape-shifting animist or “shaman”), and a Dwarven scholar from the Ered Luin (sage).

 

§  Post descriptions of my characters for the Mythic Babylon campaign I played in over the past few years (which wrapped up last summer) and the Return to the Mountains of Madness campaign I’m currently playing in (using the Mythras rules).

o   I’m not keeping logs for these campaigns (I generally only do that for the games I’m running) but I think that these characters may be of some interest to others, especially people interested in the Mythras system and its associated settings.

 

§  Return to my top-10 list of fantasy and science-fiction films. (I’ve only covered number 10 so far!)

 

§  Write up some final reflections on The Rings of Power series (which I found to be very much a mixed bag).

 

I’m watching Andor right now and finding it to be excellent. I had skipped the two most recent Star Wars series (the Boba Fett and Obi-Wan ones) but I quite liked both seasons of The Mandalorian. This series is even better, in my view. It doesn’t really feel like a “Star Wars” show to be honest – but that’s probably a good thing, given how badly the movies degenerated in quality after The Empire Strikes Back. The notable exception in recent years is Rogue One – the best Star Wars movie since Empire in my judgement – and so perhaps it’s no surprise that Andor is of such high quality, given that it’s a Rogue One prequel. Check it out if you haven’t already!

5 comments:

  1. I will check it out. No love for Return of the Jedi? The Boba Fett series was actually decent. Didn't bother with Obi-Wan, though perhaps I should give it a go.

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    1. RotJ is okay. Even as a youth, though, I was annoyed by all the silly muppets. And I've never liked the Ewoks. Still, it's better than anything in the prequel or sequel trilogies. (One of my favourite quotes from Simon Pegg's series "Spaced" is: "Jar-Jar Binks makes the Ewoks look like f***ing Shaft!")

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    2. I was 8 when RotJ came out, so the ewoks were cool in my book. But Jabba's palace blew my mind + the confrontation at the end (spoilers) !!!

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  2. I found Obi-Wan to be a guilty pleasure (and enjoyable). However, Andor is a much more interesting / fascinating series.

    Those cookies are awesome.

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    1. I'm watching Andor now with my wife. It's good so far.

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