So many games, so little time

I admit it: I suffer from gamers ADD! In my case that means that I am so easily distracted when I find a new shiny (or not so shiny. Just today I was reading about Don't rest your head) game. It's not just limited to new games. Sometimes it's enough with a new neat idea for an old game.

Problem is that there are so many nice games out there. If I were to write a list of games I've considered just this year it wuold propably at least ten games long. On it you would find games like changeling, DC universe, hunter, mutants &masterminds, true20/ Freeport,castle fallenstein and nobilis, just to mention I few.

I try to focus. There are definite plusses with playing a game a little longe. That way you get a stronger connection to your character, the world and the game itself. This is especially true if the game has a slightly unusual premise like nobilis, dogs in the vineyard or castle fallenstein.

So, how do you solve that dilemma? How do you stick with one game long enough to get to know it at the same time as you are curious to try out new games or ideas?

So far, my solution (and that of my gaming group) has been to combine slightly longer campaigns (6-9 months) with shorter mini-campaigns (3-5 sessions) and the occasional one-off.

This way you get to do some longer gaming, but with an insert of the odd indie-game-try-out now and then.

Does telepathy cross language barriers?

Does telepathy automatically cross language barriers? This was a question that popped up in a gaming session lately. I didn't consider it much then, but after a while I started to think about it.

Many modern cognitivists claim that it is our language which form our thoughts. This makes sense.. when I think, I tend to think in Swedish (me being a swede and all). So, what happens if I send my thoughts to someone else? I propably would send Swedish thoughts (or English, if I put some effort into it). This line of reasoning makes it at least plausible to me that telepathy may very well be language dependent.

Imagine what would happen if I knew telepathy, and tried to telepathically communicate with an italian? His mind, his thoughts are all italian. All of a sudden he would have swedish thougths in his head. He would here them but he wouldn't know what these thoughts mean.

However, and this is a big however. Telepathy is a made up concept anyway. There is no "right" and "wrong", but rather a telepathic concept as it fits into any given setting. In these short paragraphs I have at least presented a line of reasoning for why telepathy mustn't need to be language independent.

My Star Wars Indiana Jones character

My vision is that of a daring explorer that seeks out the farthest and most secret ruins. His goal is to find the hidden knowledge of the force, the Jedi and the Sith.

Basically, I want to make my character into some kind of Indiana Jones-wannabe. However, I also have a plan for how he will develop. At first his knowledge of the force is purely theoretical. As time goes on, his explorations and his exposure to force-intensive locations will make him force capable.

In game terms the plan is as follows:

Start out with a Bothan Scout. Nothing extraordinary here.

At 3rd level, he gets a feat that is not from his class feats. This is where I choose Force Sensitive (with the permission of the GM). With this feat, he will be able to use the skill Use Force untrained. This won't let him do much, but there are some simple things he can do. It's nothing powerful, but it adds to the feeling that the character is on a journey to something new. He will also get his first Force Talent.

At level 4 he gets a bonus feat from his class. With the Skill Training feat, he picks the Use The Force skill as a trained skill (which is possible for all Force Sensitive characters). This expands his number of force tricks radically. As contradictory as it sounds, this is the reason I'm not sure yet if I want to pick this skill at lvl 4 or at lvl 6. My goal is that he should progress slowly into the secrets of the Force, and picking the Use The Force-skill at lvl 4 might be to fast. Keep in mind that I also want to preserve the explorer/ scout part of the character.

An alternative would be to pick any nice, agility-based feat from the scout feat list.

At levels 5 and 7, he will add two additional force talents. This is because I intend to move him into the Force Adept class at lvl 8, and for that he needs 3 force talents.

So, finally, at lvl 8, he should cover all the prerequisites for moving into his first prestige class, the Force Adept. His long studies and his deeper knowledge of the Force has let him build his own understanding of the Force and he has embarked on an even deeper journey.

Finally, as a homage to the original character, he will also build himself a Light Whip as soon as he can get the Weapon Profficiency (Light Sabre) feat.