Playing in a superhero game for the first time

My gaming group got together and did a pitch session last week. We wound up settling on a superhero game using Mutants & Masterminds. I decided to play a character not unlike a combination of Mr. Bennett from Heroes and Jack Bauer from 24, with a smidgen of magic. I've been toying with the idea of rebuilding the character to be a neutralizer, though. Shut down a hostile super's powers and then take 'em down cop/soldier style. The rest of the party is a darkness manipulator, a woman in an alien space suit, and an actual alien, all of which seem like they'll be great fits for the players playing them. The Situation is that all the "A-List" super heroes and one very important "A-List" have vanished, along with the city of Chicago, which has been replaced with Something Else - a new, weird city. The PCs are all young or lower-tier (B or C list) heroes that now need to step up and deal with things. Reminds me a little bit of the 52 storyline on a superficial level. Should be fun. I've never played in a supers game before. As a side note, I really like this group.

Thank you.

I voted for you twice. You were an unpopular president, but you genuinely tried to do the right thing. Usually, you succeeded, and got vilified and demonized for it. You came to office in peace, and less than 8 months later had war thrust upon you. I only pray that the historians will be kinder to you than your modern critics. God knows you deserve it. You gave us seven years of domestic safety and may have successfully created another sane country in the middle east. You weren't the most articulate president we ever had, but you meant what you said. You created the most diverse cabinet in American history. You did untold good for AIDS in Africa. Mr. President, I salute you and thank you.


Job well done.

Witch Hunt!

Ever since I read the excellent The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane by Robert E. Howard, I've had a soft spot for the virtuous witch hunter archetype, but I didn't really know of any other fiction that had that sort of protagonist. Most people are more than a little unnerved by the idea of witch hunters, and the puritans aren't one of the more popular historical groups among modern Americans. (A pity, that. If you're not quite sure what I'm talking about, read about Francis Walsingham and the Massachusetts Bay Colony and see if your mind doesn't change some; Her Majesty's Spymaster and The Wordy Shipmates should get the point across pretty well and both are very enjoyable reads.)

Anyway, I stumbled across Matthias Thulmann: Witch Hunter while I was receiving some books the other day and have been reading it. It's fun. The hero is grim and ruthless, but definitely on the side of good (at least so far; I'm not through reading) the villains are suitably vile, and the Warhammer setting is a very cool one to have stories set in. I never got much into Games Workshop's tabletop games, but their licensed computer games are a blast and this isn't the first piece of fiction I've enjoyed from one of their worlds.

Resolutions for 2009

Life:
1. Move up in the world, or at least position myself to. More money and a house would be great.
2. Improve my relationship with my wife. This isn't so much a resolution as an ongoing goal. We're pretty happy, but it can always be better.
3. Get back into shape. I was doing really well for a while, but I've got 30 excess pounds to drop.

Work:
1. Work harder and more efficiently. I wouldn't call my work ethic a liability by any stretch of the imagination, but I can always do better.
2. See if I can advance within B&N.

Gaming:
1. Play more. Of anything. D&D, Indie games, whatever. 2008 was a very lean gaming year.
2. Run either Burning Wheel or Sorcerer for a group.

I'm glad THAT'S over.

2008 was not such a nice year. $4.00 gas was just the tip of the economic iceberg, and it kinda went downhill from there. Here's hoping '09 turns out a little better.