Syrim: A Day in the Life of a Warlock-Assassin

From the personal research notes of Morgrimm, warlock-assassin of the Dark Brotherhood.

8:15 a.m. - Woke up at the Candlehearth Hall in Windhelm.  Stayed up late experimenting with some new potions; brewed a tea with a black, bitter herb I bought off a khajiit trader to compensate.

9:30 a.m. - Dropped off the excess results from my experimenting at the White Phial.  Used some coin to purchase more canis root and charus eggs, necessary for the paralysis and invisibility potions I've been making.

10:15 a.m. - Met the mercenary, Stervan, outside Candlehearth.  Shared a flask of whiskey on the steps until the target, Gaius Maro, arrived in the city.  According to the schedule I stole from his father's men, Maro the younger will be touring the city's defenses and guard rotations before staying in the barracks tonight.  Luckily, the city is still on edge because of a series of murders by a killer being called "the Butcher", so the barracks will be nearly empty tonight while the guards do extra patrols.

Tastes Like Turkey

Via GameSpy

This Thanksgiving blog post almost turned into a #FirstWorldProblems-themed thing, but nuts to that.  Instead, here's some things from the gaming world that I am truly thankful for:

- I'm thankful for games that autosave when you walk through a door or enter a new area, giving me just enough of a safety net for the times I'm having too much fun to think about saving my game.

- I'm thankful for companies that listen to their players and actually respond to their half-cocked, MONSTER-and-Cheetos-induced verbal sludge that are most video game forums.  It leads to amazing, "I never thought they'd do that" moments.

- I'm thankful for a gamer wife who still is practical enough to hit me over the head when I'm neglecting important things, like cleaning the litter box or personal hygiene.  Love you, babe.

- I'm thankful for the ability to change difficulty on the fly, because sometimes you feel like a challenge, and sometimes you feel like you just... need... to clear... this level...

- I'm thankful that even while video gaming looks like it's being swallowed up by massive corporations, independent developers still prove a good idea like Minecraft is worth its weight in diamonds.

- I'm thankful that I have fresh, reliable batteries waiting at home for my Xbox controller, because playing Skyrim ran the ones I had DRY.

Happy Thanksgiving, and happy holidays ahead!

Back to Square One, Bethesda-Style

So I just spent 75 hours racking up 37 levels and about two dozen dragon kills in Skyrim.  I maxed out Smithing, forged and enchanted some badass armor, and turned into a werewolf.

Then I ran into a game-halting bug that's forcing me to roll a new character.

Basically, the last dungeon of the main quest line has a door puzzle that bugs out for some people.  You can halfway fix it, but it's almost a guaranteed game-killer because the area can't be fast-traveled out of and you can't get past the door to complete the quest.  The best solution online so far:  "Wait for a patch."

To be honest, I knew this was a possibility going into the game.  With something this big it's practically impossible to do all the QA needed to fix things like this.  It's kinda disappointing that a significant bug late in the main quest line made it through that process, but it's a reality when dealing with A) Bethesda, and B) a game of this immense scope.

So, here's a few tips should you decide to go adventuring into Skyrim that may help you avoid my fate:

I am Skyrim

I have fought dragons and emerged victorious, their souls filling me with knowledge and fury.

I have earned the respect of jarls and Nords, and been named a thane of their people.

I have forged weapons of skysteel and filled them with enchantments of fire and lightning, bringing forth the twin fangs Ember and Skywrath.

I have ascended the Seven Thousand Steps to the Throat of the World and communed with the ancient, mysterious Graybeards at High Hrothgar to learn the secrets of the Voice, and thus taken the first steps toward my destiny as Dovakhiin, which means Dragonborn in the ancient tongue.

I have plucked butterflies from the air and learned the alchemical secrets that can be teased from their diaphanous wings.

I have delivered traitors to justice and honor to my brethren, the Companions, who will fill their meadhall with songs of my glory, and add my name to their legendary rolls.

I have known fear and conquered it, drinking in the fearsome blood of the beast to become a werewolf, and thus strike fear into those who would hunt me and my packmates.

I have seen an ancient warrior heave a sigh filled with regret and longing, staring into the fires of his hall as he considers how he will be judged for the things he has done in this life.

I have seen a great dragon in flight, only to pause in wonder as the sky around it is filled with the shimmering curtains of the northern lights, and stood mute as the leather-winged beast swam amongst it like a salmon in a stream.

I have seen a giant tending his mammoth herd kick a starving bandit so hard the man flew into the side of a nearby mountain.

I have learned to stay away from the giants.

The End of an Era

Last weekend I sold my Wii back to Gamestop.  It felt like a big decision, like a sacrifice I was making in the face of an austere personal budget colliding with a a fall release schedule overflowing with awesome games.

This week, I hardly noticed it was gone.  Turns out I'd already made the sacrifice a long time ago.

The Open Range Rides Again

This weekend I kicked off my newest 4E D&D campaign, set in the Wild West-y world my friend Jeramy and I have been designing for some time (tidbits can be found over at our D&D blog, LevelAndClass.com).  I had previously written about the world and ran a couple of gaming sessions in it, but I haven't been able to run a full-fledged campaign in the world to really put it through its paces, so I'm excited.

The players are PhD students from my wife's program, some of whom have never picked up a D20 in their lives:  a scandalous situation for any college student, let alone those who liked school so much they want to make their careers out of it.  One of the players is a very experienced D&D player (and a freelance designer like me), so he and my wife are helping the other new players learn the ropes while I have my hands full wrestling down the campaign setting so their players can hog-tie it.

Pushing the Envelope of Stupidity

The video gaming world is full of bullies, idiots, misanthropes and mouth-breathers.  The Gentleman Gamer knows this, because they all wound up in my Zul'Gurub dungeon run last night.

Even though the GG has preached the mantra of patience and subscribes to Wheaton's Law, I fully recognize that sometimes you just can't fix stupid.

So how does the Gentleman Gamer handle himself when surrounded by jerks and jackanapes?