Why Do We Build The Wall?
Oct. 3rd, 2023 09:28 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jakebeK. came home from his trip to visit family on Sunday, so for about a week we'll have a flurry of D&D games before R. heads off to visit HIS family. Mom-in-law is celebrating her 70th, so she wanted a big to-do.
First up was the Witchlight game last night. It's a party of five for now -- a Leonin warlock, a Dragonborn bard, a Kitsune ranger, a Tiefling artificer, and my Shifter sorcerer. K. and I made characters for each other as an exercise and...maybe we were just misaligned on what kind of game this would be. :)
The Witchlight module is all about fey and the Feywild, and we're dealing with hags specifically. Of course, fey in RPGs are polarizing at best, and R. especially has a distinctive tone when using them. Honestly? It works for the most part. The fey are fun and silly, until they're dangerous and deadly. He's really caught the way things swing wildly one way or the other. We're constantly off our guard because we never know when the wrong turn of phrase or alliance will lead to ruin. It keeps me on my toes in the best way.
Our party is...not great. Three of us are relatively new at playing, and two players are in a relationship that has deteriorated past the point of repair. One of those players is...a self-absorbed asshole, let's say while the other is new and incredibly shy. Since it's remote, we're very careful about cross-talk but that often ends up in long stretches of silence. We just haven't been able to establish a good rapport with each other, and our characters are often falling flat.
It's a little frustrating because I really want to love this module, but the table you're running it with goes a long way towards the final result. I think we're all low-key waiting for the relationship to fully implode so we either move ahead with the three of us or cancel the module altogether. Until then, I'd like to take a more active role in group cohesion and try to make the game a better experience for everyone. There are a few things I can do just through play that would help, but I'll also have a conversation with our new players to see if there's anything specific.
I think yesterday was my most productive day of work since I joined! I handled all tickets on my plate and caught up on the ones I've got on hold. I'm still learning how to navigate error resolution but that's getting easier too -- or at least, my attitude toward it is. It's hard to know what information would be most useful for a scheduler to have when making my request and I want to be respectful of their time, but at the same time I don't want to come off too brusquely. I'm slowly but surely managing a tone; hopefully by the end of the year I'll have it down pat.
I did end up vaping after coming back from lunch, though. It felt like more of an impulse borne of habit than anything, but it did make me feel quite guilty. Vaping in secret on the clock? That's addict shit. I still worked through the afternoon and even cracked open Duolingo after work, but all of that would have been a lot easier to do if I weren't high.
I'm slowly working my way towards being more conscientious in general. I want my friends to feel valued and seen; I want to be the kind of person who remembers the details of our conversations, who gives thoughtful birthday and Christmas presents, who can be counted on in times of trouble. I am definitely not that kind of person today. But hopefully, with enough practice and time away from pot, I can be that person more often.
First up was the Witchlight game last night. It's a party of five for now -- a Leonin warlock, a Dragonborn bard, a Kitsune ranger, a Tiefling artificer, and my Shifter sorcerer. K. and I made characters for each other as an exercise and...maybe we were just misaligned on what kind of game this would be. :)
The Witchlight module is all about fey and the Feywild, and we're dealing with hags specifically. Of course, fey in RPGs are polarizing at best, and R. especially has a distinctive tone when using them. Honestly? It works for the most part. The fey are fun and silly, until they're dangerous and deadly. He's really caught the way things swing wildly one way or the other. We're constantly off our guard because we never know when the wrong turn of phrase or alliance will lead to ruin. It keeps me on my toes in the best way.
Our party is...not great. Three of us are relatively new at playing, and two players are in a relationship that has deteriorated past the point of repair. One of those players is...a self-absorbed asshole, let's say while the other is new and incredibly shy. Since it's remote, we're very careful about cross-talk but that often ends up in long stretches of silence. We just haven't been able to establish a good rapport with each other, and our characters are often falling flat.
It's a little frustrating because I really want to love this module, but the table you're running it with goes a long way towards the final result. I think we're all low-key waiting for the relationship to fully implode so we either move ahead with the three of us or cancel the module altogether. Until then, I'd like to take a more active role in group cohesion and try to make the game a better experience for everyone. There are a few things I can do just through play that would help, but I'll also have a conversation with our new players to see if there's anything specific.
I think yesterday was my most productive day of work since I joined! I handled all tickets on my plate and caught up on the ones I've got on hold. I'm still learning how to navigate error resolution but that's getting easier too -- or at least, my attitude toward it is. It's hard to know what information would be most useful for a scheduler to have when making my request and I want to be respectful of their time, but at the same time I don't want to come off too brusquely. I'm slowly but surely managing a tone; hopefully by the end of the year I'll have it down pat.
I did end up vaping after coming back from lunch, though. It felt like more of an impulse borne of habit than anything, but it did make me feel quite guilty. Vaping in secret on the clock? That's addict shit. I still worked through the afternoon and even cracked open Duolingo after work, but all of that would have been a lot easier to do if I weren't high.
I'm slowly working my way towards being more conscientious in general. I want my friends to feel valued and seen; I want to be the kind of person who remembers the details of our conversations, who gives thoughtful birthday and Christmas presents, who can be counted on in times of trouble. I am definitely not that kind of person today. But hopefully, with enough practice and time away from pot, I can be that person more often.
