Winter is Coming - NYC Style

Found this at syracuse.com.

NYC is closing down the subway system at 11 PM. It has never completely shut down the system for snow before (the subways did close for the last 2 hurricanes.)

Getting to work tomorrow should be... interesting.

Events like this always make me think of weather events in RPGs.

I've TPK'ed a party with a random winter storm from hell in my early days (thanks Dragon Magazine) of gaming. It's got me thinking about some divine weather events that could involve the party, but it shouldn't be directly. Town folks would be in need of protection or some such.

Let's see what happens tomorrow and if I get snowed in...

Wacky Weather - Six Feet Under (Buffalo & Homlet, Perfect Together)

Looking at the weather in upstate New York, where parts of Buffalo are looking at 6 feet of snow, it makes me think of the campaign I had that died before the players ever reached their destination. Not because of random encounters but due to random weather.

The party was going to adventure in the village of Homlet and the Temple of Elemental Evil, but they had to get there first. We had decided it was winter in the campaign (as it was for us in real life at the time) and I broke out Dragon Magazine #68 (found a link to the PDF here) and used the enclosed weather system to add some realism.

This was fairly early in my gaming career (if you can call it that) and I was very much "play it as it rolled." We didn't fudge.

Well, the damn weather system dropped 5 1/2 feet of snow on the ill prepared party in less than 2 days, with temperatures remaining below freezing for at least the next few days. The party had no shelter. They were first level and were lucky to have bed rolls.

They died.

We never used the weather system again.

Come to think of it, that was my first and only TPK inflicted without rolling an attack roll (or ten) against the party.

Enough With the Snow Already!

I'd rather be home reading RPG books - but as we are having work done on the house, that probably wouldn't have happened if I'd been able to stay home anyway.

So, what are you doing on this icy, snowy, wet, windy Thursday in February?

Inclement Weather in Your Games - Hand Wave or a Heavy Hand?

As I sit on the now winterized front porch at my parents' place in the Pocono Mountains, looking at maybe 2 inches of new snow on the ground, it's making me think. A couple of inches of snow is no big deal here on the east coast (the west coast is a whole 'nother ball of wax).

I pretty much ignore seasons and weather in my games unless they are there to set the mood. I haven't snowed a party in with a 4' snow storm since my high school / early college years (damn you Dragon Magazine of old!)

The thing is, you don't need 4' of snow to make folks miserable in a fantasy setting. Half a foot is going to make travel a real pain in the ass. Flooding and muddy paths and roadways after the snowfall is probably even worse.

Then there is the Weather Control spell. Just think of the advantages a village / town / city could have if it controlled it's own weather. Walk out of a snow storm in a brisk spring day with birds chirping and the sun melting the snow right off your cloak.

On that note, I should step out into the 15 degree weather and clear the snow from the patio and my car. I do want to be home in time for the Super Bowl.

So, hand wave or heavy hand for your weather?

How Much Gaming Have I Missed Out on This Week Due to the Storm?

Well, thanks to the Hurricane and the overtime attached to it, I've had to cancel one game (the LL session that would have been last Monday), bow out on Keith's Wednesday Night Blood & Treasure Game, unable to play in Edjar's DCC Game and couldn't pound some drinks in Mark's Drinking Quest session.

Heck, tonight's game which was canceled as I was going away for the weekend I probably can't uncancel, as most of the group made other plans.

How the fuck I was going to do all this playing I have no idea, but doing none of it is damn depressing.

No weekday gaming for the foreseeable future with 4 am starts at work either.

Red Cross Hurricane Sandy Relief Charity Bundle at RPGNow

RPGNow and a ton of publishers are offering the Red Cross Hurricane Sandy Relief Charity Bundle to help the Red Cross and those suffering in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.

This whole event has really opened my eyes to the power of Mother Nature. Yesterday I spent my afternoon and evening walking through housing projects in Brooklyn, checking on residents to see how they were holding up without electricity, water or heat. The strength of the human spirit never ceases to amaze me - nearly every person I came in contract with had a positive attitude in spite of their current hardships.

I work with people who lost their homes to the storm surge overnight Monday into Tuesday, yet they still came to work Tuesday morning to serve the city they are sworn to protect. My home and my family come through the storm relatively unscathed, but others up and down the eastern seaboard are not so lucky.

If there are games / and or other gaming products that appeal to you in the bundle, this is a great way to give while getting something back. Over $450 worth of gaming products in PDF for 20 bucks

(Pathfinder players / GMs will wind that Raging swan Press donated a number of pieces to the bundle. There are some hidden gems like Part-Time Gods and some Savage World Adventures and a ton of other stuff. It's light on OSR stuff, but then again, what isnt?)

Hopefully I will get a chance to get some of my usual game related posts posted this weekend. Maybe the fine folks at WotC would have been kind enough to post an article Grumpy will find appealing when he finally gets around to reading it. I'll need to take a peek it seems ;)

Pictures Are Worth A Thousand Word - Sandy's Work From Earlier in the Week

I was "In the Bag" today (NYPD vernacular for in full uniform) which rarely happens with my current position, but the devastation left by Hurricane Sandy is one hell of a exception to the rule.

No gaming thoughts today - I didn't have the time to play with such thoughts.

Nope, today real life stared me in the face for 15 hrs, and I was happy to offer what help I could (my feet are paying the price tonight).

Some scenes from a flooded area of Brooklyn earlier today -

Sandy Overstays Her Welcome - Not a Pleasant Visitor

Today was a long day at work - the immediate future will be full of long days too - 12 hour plus tours until further notice. The five day vacation to the Poconos for my first wedding anniversary may be put off for a week or two.

Millions without power. Over 100 homes burned down in Breezy Point in Queens. Mass Transit taking a huge critical hit. Significant loss of life (including an off duty Police Officer who drowned in his home).

Mother Nature is an predicable and powerful creature, both friend and foe.

She can visit elsewhere next time.

(back to the usual gaming blogposts with the next post)

Waiting on the Frankenstorm - It Moves Slower Than an AD&D Class E Flyer

This storm is taking forever to get to NYC. I'm sure it will be the equivalent a Old Red Dragon, but it's got the maneuverability of a block of wood:


Class A: Creature can turn 180° per round, and requires 1 segment to reach full airspeed. Creature requires 1 segment to come to a full stop in the air, and can hover in place. Class A creatures have total and almost instantaneous control of their movements in the air. Examples: diinn, air elementals, aerial servants, couatl.

Class B: Creature can turn 120° per round, and requires 6 segments to reach full airspeed. Creature requires 5 segments to come to a full stop in the air, and can hover in place. Examples: fly spell, sprites, sylphs, giant wasps, ki-rin. 

Class C: Creature can turn 90° per round, and requires 1 round to reach full airspeed. Examples: carpet or wings of flying, gargoyles, harpies, pegasi, lammasu, shedu. 

Class D: Creature can turn 60° per round, and requires 2 rounds to reach full airspeed. Examples: pteranodons, sphinxes, mounted pegasi. 

Class E: Creature can turn 30° per round, and requires 4 rounds to reach full airspeed. Examples: dragons, rocs, wyverns. [DMG, p. 50-51]

72 Degrees in NYC and It's Not Even Spring Yet...

Heck, I never went beyond wearing a fall fleece jacket this winter.

Spring has been here for like 2 weeks already, if not longer, and winter never really showed itself.

Ah well, it was a good excuse to leave work early today.  Maybe I'll sit on the front porch with my cat and get some RPG reading in ;)

NYC Temperature Swing Is Worse Than the Carcosa HD Swing

Saturday Night / Sunday Morning I had to pick my son up from the police precinct he volunteers at as an Auxiliary Officer. He got off after working New Years Eve at 1:45 AM. I drove over in the pair of shorts I had been bumming around with. It was warm enough.

Today I woke up to 12 degree weather. I really REALLY need to break out my winter jacket ;)

I felt like a fighter that woke up to D4 HD in Carcosa (thanks to Dreams in the Lich House for pointing out this Carcosa quirk - I noticed it in my reading, then put it aside and forgot)

I was completely unprepared this morning ;)

Welcome Winter - Please Feel Free to Exit Quietly and Quickly

Woke up to frost on the car this morning. Monday we hit 70 degrees, last night we went below freezing.

When I was in High School and College, the summer months were prime gaming time. The backyard, a picnic table and endless gallons of Iced Tea kept us going for hours and hours.

The winter months were the hardest on us as gamers. Besides studying and other necessary school work, walking in the cold and snow to the house we were gaming wasn't as nearly as much fun as in the summer. Canceling a game session due to cold or snow wasn't unheard of, but it certainly was painful.

VTTs don't suffer from the cold or weather ;)

Springtime in November

It hit the low 60's here in the Poconos earlier today (yes, I'm away for the long weekend).  I went flea market shopping in a short sleeve shirt - on November 26th - in the north east - less then a month before Christmas.  If you want to put more discretionary dollars in my pocket, keep my heating bills low ;)

I picked up a set of 8 sided dice at the flea market - alright, they are actually naturally forming fluorite, but they make pretty neat dice.  I might number these and use them.  Hmmm... design a game that uses only 8 sided pieces of fluorite to determine probability.  Now THAT would be an obscure system... heh

Buy in is cheap tho', as they only cost me a buck a piece.

Fall Has Arrived

I don't know what the temperature was when I left for work this morning somewhere around 645, but it's now nearly 930 and it's only 53 degrees outside. Brrrr.

Since I'm still in the summer mindset, I'm wearing a short sleeve shirt. No jacket. Not I. No sir-ee!

I think I need to unpack one for tomorrow morning tho ;)

Rumbling Through the Mountains

I'd forgotten how localized weather can get in the mountains. You'll hear thunder rumbling for hours and never get a drop of rain. Two towns 5 miles apart, one suffering from a flash flood thunderstorm, the other bathed in sunlight.

I generally don't get weather like that back home in NYC, but it isn't uncommon in the Pocono Mountains. This is something I'd like to integrate into my next campaign along with some other atmospheric highlights (such as the effects of time as I discussed yesterday).

I'm sitting on the front porch here in the mountains, waiting for the rain to come and pass so we can head back to the city. We already sat through one thunderstorm a few miles away while having breakfast and returned to sun, a dry patio and the distant rumble of thunder.

Irene, We Hardly Knew Ya!

Well, you cant have a Hurricane visit without spending some personal time with her, so the family and I headed out to Rockaway Beach to meet her.  She was still causing havoc at the water's edge as you can see below:

Additionally, you can go to the MTA's own Flicker Album to see the problems in store for those seeking to commute into and within NYC over the coming days.  Flooding is the word of the week.

About to play a game of Ticket to Ride with my lady and my mother.  Mom's been going thru withdrawals over the summer months it seems ;)

Hurricane Irene Wasn't the Biatch I Thought She Was ;)

I'm still here ;)

The rain was the worst of it.  The basement got damp but didn't flood.  I did get a leak in the roof which sucks, as it came thru the ceiling in one of the rooms I just renovated.  Still, we have power and the worst seems to be over.

Didn't get recalled for the weekend, so I guess I'll find out how bad things are at work when I return tomorrow morning.

The Sun Will Come Out Tomorrow - Failing That, Maybe Monday

They are saying that the NYC subway system may not be back up for Monday morning. It should be a fun commute.

So far it's just been a lot of rain here in NYC and I'll probably sleep thru the worst of the winds overnight.

I haven't gotten the reading in that I had hoped for, as the family is glued to storm coverage on the TV, myself included. Every loves to watch natural disasters ;)

Then again, the weather is now causing havoc with the satellite signal - reading may be in my grasp ;)

Waiting is the Hardest Part

It's 0120 in the morning and I'm still wide awake (if not wholly sober - 2 Blackberry beers from Sam Adams and I'm done -  damn lightweight) trying to track the storm.  It's not like I'll be able  to change it's course or anything.

I remember using weather tables from one of the Dragon Magazine issues (somewhere in the 80's or 90's issue wise) and rolling campaign ending weather on my players - something like a 4 day blizzard with 5 1/2 feet of snow.  Sorry, but that's once in a milleneium weather event.  That's the Ice Age.

Weather in a RPG should be adjusted to fit the story - need a blizzard or a hurricane?  Add it to the story.  It's really that simple.

I love random tables and hate them at the same time, as some GMs allow themselves to be ruled by "the random".  If the results don't fit, you must adjust.  Or change gloves- wait, that's O.J.

On that note, I think I'm no longer as wide awake ;)

The City That Never Sleeps Prepares to Shut Down

Last year it was the Blizzard of the Century.

Earlier this week, we had the once in a lifetime earthquake on the East Coast.

Now NYC faces it's worst hurricane in nearly 125 years. Mass transit shuts down at noon tomorrow. Bridges in the city (which consists of The Bronx on the mainland and Manhattan and Staten Islands, and Brooklyn and Queens counties on Long Island) will be closing when sustained winds hit 60 MPH. Parts of the city are under mandatory evacuation orders. We are looking at 8"+ or rain and huge storm surges.

If this was a RPG scenario, we would be talking End of Days type of stuff. Actually, I'd love to use this in a RPG scenario - it's a great set up.

In any case, I may be posting a lot this weekend, or nothing at all. It certainly wont be boring. My sister, her husband and my little niece may be staying the weekend. They aren't in an evac zone, but they have lots of nearby water soaked trees that are liable to come down causing loss of power or damage to their house.