Woman of Letters

Oh my god, seven years ago…I was awesome

Okay, so some of you may know that I spent ninth grade in India. There was not really a whole lot to do there, since I took a long time to make friends and my previous outlet (playing computer games) was foreclosed by the abominable slowness of my computer. Not to mention that this high school was absurdly easy. So what I did was stay up until 2-3 AM every night and write reams and reams of notes on the absurdly complicated D&D campaign that I was planning on running online with my friends from home. We ended up playing a session or two, but the amount of words I put down was so far beyond this that I can’t even describe it*. It was like logorrhea.

Now, when I came back home I distinctly remember backing up all my documents and carefully carting them home and putting them on my computer through the magic of floppy discs. However, that was…at least three desktops and one laptop ago. And although I am very careful about saving all my files, it seemed alot to expect for those files to last. I searched though…searched through all my folders in vain…

But just now I was listening to Savage Garden (I had two CDs in India, a Savage Garden album and the Les Miserables soundtrack) at 2 AM (while studying for my finals). I vividly remembered those days, the feel of typing in those things. My excitement every time I downloaded a new Dungeons and Dragons sourcebook from the internet. And I made a stab at using Google Desktop to find those files. And I did, exactly the way I remember them! Haha, this is great! They were tucked away in a folder buried ten levels deep.

Man, the ninth grade me was a genius. Sure, he has poor grammar and a tendency to throw in everything from every fantasy novel that he’s ever read. But so did Ed Greenwood! This is totally great. I know what I’m doing for the next hour.

*I also made up my own gaming system by ramming GURPS and what I could gleam of 3rd edition D&D (which was barely out at this point) together into an unholy and probably unplayable meld. I have lists here of entire worlds. Multiple worlds. Each containing some thirty-forty countries. What the hell was I doing.

EDIT: Reading through my later files, I’m noticing that I really started to capture the tone and format of those old sourcebooks pretty well. Which is not something to really be proud of…except it is, because those sourcebooks were (and still are) awesome fun to read.

Comments (

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  1. will_ludwigsen

    The great thing about writing gaming materials is that you can be as micro or macro as you want, and they’re more fun to write. It’s a great combination of fiction and non-fiction: fictional worlds written in a non-fictional style. You don’t have to balance dialogue and motivation and other story-things quite as much.
    I love reading gaming materials. My favorites are the GURPS books, largely because they’re so well researched–each of them is a mini-course in their subject. GURPS Space and GURPS Time Travel should be required reading for any sf writer working in those genres.
    I have a whole folder of my own gaming materials on my computer, too–mostly adventures for D&D (3rd) and GURPS. They were a lot of fun to write, and reading them now, I see they’re not badly done.
    Now I use mainly d20 for all of the games I run, just because it is so much simpler to tell players to roll a 20-sided die and add a number than it is to tell them to roll low and subtract modifiers and whatnot.

    1. Anonymous

      I used to love GURPS, because I felt like it covered the relevant material from every possible angle.

  2. bkdunn

    Seems like the *polite* thing to do would be to post a sample. I mean, you know, *seems* like.
    bkd

    1. alexotica

      Seconded!

  3. creamedcorn

    So would you describe yourself as more of a geek than a nerd? Because I call myself a nerd who went through a geeky phase in middle school.

  4. Anonymous

    I believe that I transcend labels.

  5. Anonymous

    About half of the books I’ve bought have been from being on Amazon late at night when I’m drunk out of my mind. I should probably make a tag for my LibraryThing books “bought when smashed”.

  6. Anonymous

    2.wav, aka IMMORTALITY, 5.wav, aka Civil Rights
    Thank you for visiting my web site:::http://finalprophet.freehostyou.com/finalprophet.htm.
    2.wav, aka IMMORTALITY
    The ideas presented in this one sound file represent the pinnicle of what I teach. If you understand what I teach in 2.wav then everything else is just details and you would be wise not to pursue this any longer.
    DON’T WAIT FOR THE GODS TO ALLOW YOU TO PRAY. They gods AREN’T GOING to give you permission. You have made so many mistakes they no longer want you and won’t approve if you ask.
    MY ADVICE TO YOU ALL is:::Begin to think correctly. People aren’t god-fearing anymore. If you understood the misery they inflict upon those they dislike you WOULD BE AFRIAD.
    If you think correctly they would be more likely to be merciful when you do defy.
    You’re just getting older. If you understood the significance of aging you WOULD HAVE GREAT URGENCY and you would begin IMMEDIATELY!!!!
    And be aware of their tactics, for they will employ them all to prevent/delay your understanding. The more you can skip the quicker your learning curve will be.
    The gods offer positive clues to people in a subtle, inferred manner::::
    1. Women are indifferent towards sex as a clue to stay away from damaging behavior. Women who have sexual impulses do because of hypersexual behavior in their youth:::They have been masculinized. Because they are the gender with favor this tactic is recurring, designed to protect them from destructive behavior.
    2. Deep down very child knows why the gods like girls better. They see it every day on the playground:::The girls are kind, considerate and thoughtful while the boys are engaging in roughhouse and intentionally hurting each other.
    If you can recognize these subtle ways the gods communicate positive things you may pick up on the other clues and ultimately you will ignore their overt negative temptations.
    There are all kinds of reverse positioning clues in regards to favor in this morbidly disfavored age:::Late bloomers have god’s favor and are therefore given more time to fix their probelms and get out before puberty. People with infertility problems would be wise to look at themselves in this same light.
    Similarly, women without marriage prospects are receiving extra time as well. If they were to get married later in life the gods would just tell some man, who likely thought he was earning, that he could get divorced in a couple of years anyways.
    They warn me off of red meat, peak me when addressing the topic.
    “This (current life) is the life when we milk you.” Back during the week of festivities 4.18.06-4.25.06 they said I was alive in the 60s. Perhaps the life when I am slaughtered referrs to Vietnam.
    I expect this was a way to enhance the theater they could present to the disfavored:::
    1. He is a god sent back to Earth.
    2. He is the clone of a god. Expect both these were used on Christians.
    3. My father is my clone, so my father is my son (this is how they refer to clones)
    4. I am in a contest for a big prize in the next life, perhaps boss??? King of Planet Earth’s residuals? Considering the sorry, sorid state that is my chance this is no chance at all.
    5.
    a. Manufactured a scapegoat::::”(He) killed Planet Earth.” Because of my failure as a young person I did not initiate the Apocalypse::::Ending on Earth sooner rather than later a good thing because sucess rate higher prior to escatcy slutification, amplification/spread of Westernization to the more favored FarEasterners.
    b. “Paisano effect” – save the germanic henchmen Austrians from the hat trick of genocide, preventing the Termination of Planet Earth’s corrupt trash, an event which would have enabled Earth to live on into perpetuity.
    6.
    7.
    8.
    9.
    Perhaps they have plans to reincarnate me as a cow?? They have said they reincarnate sexist men as pigs.
    Consideridering black misogyny, how many black men do we have locked up in pig pens?
    The gods love their irony:::From one cage to another.
    More than one has enjoyed their own kin at black’s beloved BBQs. This is VERY important to them and they SEE TO IT the right meat is delivered.
    Empathy is very important, and vegetarians have achieved a high level of empathy.

  7. Anonymous

    Schwartzenegger insists the victims of the 2007 Southern California firestorm temporarily residing at Jack Murphy Stadium are happy.
    First he calls Tonight Show host Jay Leno an “idiot”. Then he drops this bomb.
    If it were Gray Davis the gods would have their media attack him mercilessly for these mistakes. Together they may be enough to cost any other politician his career. But not Arnold Schwartzenegger.
    They say he makes comments like these all the time, clues which are all buried. And it’s because they have BIG plans for him::::He is a tool who will be used to accomplish historical evil for the gods.
    They say there is a strange sense of “unease” at the State Capital, like he doesn’t belong there. And he doesn’t. He is not American. Sadly this is an issue that is too readily discounted:::::
    He is not from the United States. His loyalties lie with a country that was the enemy of the United States a mere 65 years ago.
    Just as we witnessed with Clinton in 1992 expect blacks to register and vote en masse for Schwartzenegger as well, a clue and a red flag.
    Just as we haven’t seen any more of that “Everybody is happy.” idiocy from the Preditor so do we no longer hear anything of the possibility a firefighter started one if not more of these SoCal fires, buried forever.
    Weight training (protmoted in every prison system in the country), promotion of pharmeceuticals (steroids), emotionally desensitizing “guy flicks” all prove the name “Preditor” is warranted.

  8. Anonymous

    Churches and places of worship exist in every town FOR GOOD REASON::::THE GODS HAVE EXPECTATIONS!!! They DEMAND PROPER BEHAVIOR from the people. I recommend you examine this clue and give consideration to what expectations the gods have of the people.
    I tell people to go back to church, even if the Catholic Church, because their children need that religious education.
    They say some people are getting flashes, becoming concerned, beginning to give credibility to what I say. Do be surprised if these are people who experienced Bible study, went to CCD, had that religious education.
    god-less people who never received this education laugh at me, typically will remain corrupted throughout their lives and are likely to end up The Damned.
    Don’t be a statistic.
    Churches and places of worship exist in every town FOR GOOD REASON::::THE GODS HAVE EXPECTATIONS!!! They DEMAND PROPER BEHAVIOR from the people. I recommend you examine this clue and give consideration to what expectations the gods have of the people.
    When the gods hurt people who tell them “No.” it can be interpreted as a good sign, much as feedback normally is. Sadly, as the threat can be considered a deterent to proper behavior then so can avoidance of the actual punishment be considered temptation.
    The gods won’t punish rejection from the innocent. People have to become corrupted and engage in evil before the gods will wield their justice. But this punishment is feedback levied upon good people who do the wrong thing, not upon the undesirable evil. People who think correctly and are genuinely god-fearing are more likely to envoke god’s mercy.
    Among “reals” I don’t expect the percentage to be as high as those who crossed the line from person to preditor, despite those ranks being filled with these “undesirables”. I think the gods may want most if not all to pay if and when they finally “come around” and begin to behave appropriately. Understand this is not all-inclusive, for many of these tools remain in this state of corruption until the day the gods adjudicate their case (death, reincarnation a lesser life form, etc).
    Unfortunately, the god’s policy further reinforces evil behavior, for they are rarely if ever punished for their wickedness. Good people on the other hand are punished BECAUSE they are wanted and the gods are giving them feedback in hope they canlearn and begin to behave decent. Expect these events are made very visible, serving as a FABULOUS corruptor.
    Consistant with this policy of not punishing evil because they are undesirable and were never going to receive significant time, the Chinese will be punished with Westernization immediately, while the socio-economically mature Japanese have retained a significant level of their culture. As reflected in “Benchmarks.wav”, this will contribute to deterioration sufficient for the gods to utilize justification, allowing them to end on Planet Earth.
    THE GODS ARE ASEXUAL. THEY HAVE NO SEX ORGANS NOR RECTUM.
    WHEN THEY TAKE CHILDREN THEY HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO BECOME “GOD-LIKE”, for ASEXUALITY IS SUPERIOR. This is the optimal ascention senario and represents the highest life form possible.
    2.wav::::Immortality. The very first sound file AND the point where my audience should have extracted from this theater.
    Recall I recently brought up the possible Manifest Destiny-positioned Chinese invasion of the United States (west coast) upon economic abandonment by their clone host tools (economic destruction and deterioration.mp3). They have mentioned this in years past.
    Newspaper just made a curious one-day change where they combined the sports and business sections, and to properly read the business section you need to read “backward”. Like Asian languages.
    I’ve recently stated how the gods will use the Japanese as role models to the Chinese as China becomes increasingly Westernized.
    If we do witness a Chinese invasion on American soil don’t be surprised if the very same tactics the Japanese employed on the Chinese will be used on us. Lack of empathy is a dynamic the gods will find important in the context of justification.

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