[Originally posted at the D&D3.5 "Vanished Lands" Yahoo/eGroups Web club]
Friends, thanks again to those of you in the Boston area who came over last night to help Janice and me deal with the stuff in our basement, which was flooded this past weekend. Your hard work and sense of humor made sorting through our damaged possessions much easier for us. Thanks also for the generous birthday gift certificate.
Beruk A., thanks for separating the damaged comic books and graphic novels, and Greg D.C., thanks again for your parents’ shop vacuum and your enthusiastic taping and hauling of boxes. I’ll eventually have a list of PDFs for you to look for…
Thomas K.Y., thanks for your help in moving the items such as our spare clothes dryer into the storage unit, some of which you helped us move into our duplex in Needham, Massachusetts, three years ago! BTW, Janice watched the first episode of the BBC’s revived “Doctor Who” and liked it.
Byron V.O., thanks for cataloging the waterlogged D20 fantasy, assorted histsorical/steampunk, superhero/horror, and cyberpunk/space opera gaming books. I also hope your legal expertise (or at least reputation and affiliation) will help us get some compensation. Of course, our school and personal records aren’t replacable, but anything would be nice, and I’ve already taken several carloads of pulped books and cardboard to the local dump.
Brian W., thanks for compiling the list of espionage, speculative fiction, and GURPS books, which will eventually help me figure out what to try to replace. James B., your triage of the wet books into piles of what might be saved and what unfortunately has been taken to the dump was swift and efficient.
Atilla C., I’m sorry that you couldn’t join us, but I hope that the damage from the tree that fell in your backyard wasn’t too bad. Thanks also to telephoned last night to show their support, including David I.S., Erik B.L., and Dan A., and to those who have contacted Janice and me in the past few days, including Damon F.P., Steve M., Kim M.E.A.G., Dexter V.H., Ron J.K., Steve M.R., Brian D.H., Cecil R.W., Bob R., Mark A.S. & Ann W., Patrik D’H., and David J.R. Your offers of copies of past gaming notes to replace the 20+ years that I’ve lost are much appreciated.
I’ll be busy this coming weekend with my parents’ visit from Virginia, but I’ll let you know what we’ll do regarding the location of next Tuesday night’s (25 October 2005) scheduled D&D3.5 “Vanished Lands: Seekers of Lore” heroic fantasy session. When we left the current Player Characters, they were trying to solve a murder mystery implicating some Pernicon (Thri-kreen/Locust Folk) in the Saganim human town of Peristhon…
I’ll also post a poll at the Yahoo/eGroups Web site for possible activities for our annual costumed Halloween gathering, tentatively planned for Sunday, Oct. 30, at the home of Byron and family in Hopkinton, Mass. (sorry, Greg). I also hope to run a one-shot on Saturday, November 12. Take care, and stay in touch with me and one another, -Gene
Friends, thanks to those of you who sent 37th birthday wishes. Janice and I had a rude surprise when we went to our basement this afternoon: 8 inches of water! As neighbor Greg D.C. can attest, our duplex in Needham Heights, Massachusetts, is a mess.
As many of you know, Janice and I haven't had any problems with flooding in the past three years, so we had a lot stored downstairs. It now looks like our washer/dryer and air conditioner, holiday decorations, most of my comic books, half of my 200+ gaming books, and worst of all, 20+ years of role-playing notes and personal records are beyond salvage.
We've telephoned our landlord, who sent workmen and a pump, and our insurance company, so hopefully we'll get some compensation and can begin cleanup before my parents' visit from Virginia next weekend. We believe that the past week's worth of steady rain on the U.S. East Coast, plus the recent "McMansion" development up the hill and the flooding of adjacent apartments are to blame.
Thank you in advance for your support, but I don't yet know what we'll need to do in the coming days. Note that I won't be running and hosting the D&D3.5 "Vanished Lands: Seekers of Lore" game this coming week, and someone else may have to host the sessions of 25 and 30 October 2005. I'll try to check e-mail periodically (I've also been busy at work), and I hope that your week is better than mine, -Gene
So sorry to hear about your flood. I hope some of the more important items can be salvaged. What a terrible birthday present. Take care, -Kim
Gene, I'm really sorry to hear about the flood. Would you accept a few books of mine? I have GURPS 3rd. Ed. Special Ops and D&D 3rd. Ed. Monster Manual. Free gifts if you want them. Best Wishes, -Dave Rost
Gene Sorry to hear about your flooded basement. If you need help I'll do what I can to help. I hope some things can be salvaged. -James B.
David, James, and friends, thank you for your kind words as Janice and I try to recover from this past weekend’s flooded basement. Pumping out the water took most of a day, and we’ve started moving the remaining dry items upstairs.
The bad news is that we each lost records dating back to kindergarten through graduate school, as well as half of my GURPS books and all of my modern, espionage/horror, cyberpunk, steampunk, and space opera games, as well as 23 years’ worth of notes, magazines, and comic books. You can imagine what a pain that is for a pack rat like me. In addition, our insurance company has said that flooding isn’t covered by our renters’ insurance, and the landlord hasn’t personally viewed the damage yet.
The good news, such as it is, is that about 70% of my D&D3.5 rulebooks and most recent records survived. Those of you who have numerous hardcopies of past files, please hold onto them–I’ll eventually need them to reconstruct my notes. I may also need the help of some of you in the Boston area to move some boxes into storage as we clear out the basement in the next week or so.
In the meantime, thanks again for you patience, and please use the Yahoo/eGroups message board to continue role-playing with the “Seekers of Lore” until I can schedule the next face-to-face D&D3.5 “Vanished Lands” heroic fantasy sessions… -Gene
Dude, I am so sorry man. Hey let me know what you need to replace anything missing. I got complete the warrior/adventurer's books and I can keep a look out for any 50% sales on any D&D books.
Hey check it out:
http://www.zod2008.com/
http://www.walken2008.com/
What day are you looking at? This Weekend? -Beruk A.
Beruk and friends, my parents will be visiting from Virginia this coming weekend, so how about tomorrow night? Instead of our regularly scheduled D&D3.5 “Vanished Lands: Seekers of Lore” session, we can haul some of my stuff into a storage unit, eat pizza, and of course, talk about gaming and related things. This is purely optional, but Janice and I really appreciate any help those of you in the Boston area can offer. -Gene
Gene, I'll help out just let me know what time you want me there. Oh It's me James.
James, Beruk, and friends, if you’re able to be at Janice’s and my place by around 6:30 p.m. tomorrow, that should be fine. We’ll mainly be moving boxes, my spare clothes dryer, and wet books that need to be inventoried for replacement. Thanks in advance for your help! -Gene
Sure Thomas can get me a ride there from work. -Beruk A.
Although I have a weak back, I still would like to be there and haul away whatever within my caliber. See you tomorrow at 6:30. -Atilla
Sorry guys, I can't be there. Seems that things are happening all over the place. I am quite beat after chopping down the tree that landed on our roof and backyard. All is well, the roof seems ok. We were indeed lucky that no one got hurt. It was a dead tree and I was looking at options to remove it. Well, it did it itself…
I hope you guys are doing alright, too. -Atilla C.
Friends and fellow role-players, I hope you enjoyed last night’s D&D3.5 “Vanished Lands: Seekers of Lore” session. Thanks, Greg, for the pizzas and “Saerek’s” latest observations of his companions as they fought Illithid spawn while investigating a murder mystery around the Mayhew farm near the Saganim human town of Peristhon…
Here again is my calendar:
-15 to 23 October 2005: King Richard’s Faire Renaissance festival in Carver, Mass. (weather permitting; http://www.kingrichardsfaire.net/)
-Oct. 16: Regular Sunday morning “City of Heroes” online game with Dexter V.H. et al.
-Oct. 18: “Seekers of Lore” Session Yb-3c.27 at Gene D.’s duplex in Needham Heights, Massachusetts.
-Oct. 21 to 23: My parents visit from Virginia.
-Oct. 24: D&D3.5 “Vanshed Lands” session? One-shot?
-Oct. 29: “The Legend of Zorro”
-Oct. 30: Annual costumed Halloween gathering?
-November 4: Game Master Hans C.H.’s birthday; “Chicken Little”
-Nov. 8: Regular Tuesday night D&D3.5 game resumes.
-Nov. 12: Out-of-town visitors; another one-shot session?
-Nov. 19: work; “Harry Potter [IV] and the Goblet of Fire”?
-Nov. 20: Super MegaFest genre convention at Sheraton Tara in Framingham: http://www.supermegafest.com/
-Nov. 24 to 28: Thanksgiving with family in Virginia.
-Nov. 25: Randy K.M.’s birthday (www.somethingpositive.net)
-December 3: “Aeon Flux”
-Dec. 5: Janice L.M.’s birthday
-Dec. 6: Ron J.K.’s birthday [“Bain”]
-Dec. 10: in-laws visit; Bay Colony Dog Show
-Dec. 11: “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe”
-Dec. 16: David I.S.’s birthday [“Kelan Elgoral”]
-Dec. 17: “King Kong”
-Dec. 18: Mark A.S.’s birthday [“Lt.Cmdr. Arthur J. Hudson”]
-Dec. 23 to ??: Christmas with in-laws in Upstate New York.
-“Star Wars: Where Science Meets Imagination” exhibit at the Boston Museum of Science: 27 October 2005 through 30 April 2006 http://www.mos.org/doc/1293
-“Monty Python’s Spamalot” musical comedy revue: March 7 to April 15 (Tickets for this will sell out quickly!) http://www.broadwayinboston.com/html/new/index_news.html
By now, most of you have seen my favorable reviews of recent movies, including Tim Burton’s “Corpse Bride,” “Wallace and Gromit: Curse of the Were-Rabbit” and “Serenity.”
I also hope that all of you can join me for nongaming events, such as the “5 Wits” archaeologically-themed team show (www.5-wits.com/home_html.html), at some point…
For the one-shots, here again are the options I’m considering:
-“Seekers of Lore” (current Boston-area Player Character party)
-Backup parties in the D&D3.5 “Vanished Lands” heroic fantasy campaign setting
-“S.J.I.” comic book superhero campaign using D20 “Mutants and Masterminds” 2nd Ed. or GURPS 4th Ed. “Powers”
-Other Game Masters could run a scenario
Please let me know how these dates are for you. Thanks, -Gene
Wednesdays are bad for me that is hockey night. -James B./”Morthic”
I cannot do October 26th. -Atilla C./”Duartbell”
Fellow role-players, O.K., the next two D&D3.5 “Vanished Lands: Seekers of Lore” sessions will be on the regular Tuesday nights, 18 and 25 October 2005. I still hope to have a gathering around Halloween and a one-shot on Saturday, November 12.
I caught the “Dungeons & Dragons 2” rebroadcast last night. As others have noted, it was decent for a SciFi Channel telemovie (with better acting and weaker effects than its predecessor), if not yet as good as fans of the game deserve… Have a good weekend, -Gene
Oops, I misunderstood. I've already scheduled something else for the 25th. I'll see if I can move that… -Thomas K.Y./”Ahrad”
Gene's Worlds 