My Wife Made Me Do This

I’m getting out of the Army in a couple of months. Right now, I’m on transition leave, which used to be called terminal leave. In the simplest terms, it means that I’m on a three-month vacation. I’ve got a lot of time on my hands. I’ll be starting school in a few months, but until then I’ve got a little time on my hands.

“You should really write your own blog,” my wife said to me this morning.

“I don’t have anything to write about that a bunch of other people haven’t already said a thousand times. Does the world really need another stupid gaming blog?”

“Does it matter? Who would you be writing for? Other people, or just for yourself? I would give you something to do, give you some practice writing before you start college, and give you a place to get things off your mind.”
I really can’t argue with any of that. Plus, I already have a blog, I just don’t update it.

So…I’m back…I guess. Since no one reads this, I'm talking to myself. If I don't post real content on here today, I'll eat a bug.

Am I Back? Maybe...

This is one part gaming blog, one part life blog. Granted, I haven't posted in a good long while. I'm not going to speak to that, because what is the point? Saying I'm going to post more is just blowing warm air into the aether. Only posting real content counts.

I've been busy the past three weeks or so with the fine (and sometimes overwhelming) details of getting my wife and kids settled here in South Korea. Let me say that, after a year living here without them, I cannot overstate how happy I am to finally have them join me here. However, there is a lot to do just to get things put together here. There is already a pretty strong support system in place but one must often puzzle out how to use it. They are otherwise happy to just let a person flounder on his own. Couple in the fact that our vehicle has yet to arrive from the States and you have a recipe for long walks and real tests of one's planning and efficiency.

From a D&D standpoint, I feel like I've had first-hand appreciation for the size and scope of the pseudo-medievel fantasy urban setting. Granted, I have lived here (and had to walk everywhere) for over a year, but adding the family has complicated the process. Walking places with kids is a drag. Self-sufficiency means storing up staples and taking planned trips. It also means that areas of large populations tend to require access to basic supplies and provisions. There is no 15 minute drive to WalMart here; now it's a three hour walk to the grocery store.

The lesson, I think, is that D&D towns should be designed as a series of microcosms and self-contained areas. Even more wide-open settled regions should be dotted with villages. Every farm should probably be within walking distance or (at most) a wagon ride away from the nearest moderate settlement. Walking is pleasant and walking has certainly kept me in shape, but the fun fades quickly when your other transportation options are limited. Take away the buses and taxis that I DO have access to here, and I imagine the world would get even more compact and even smaller than it already is here.

A loose D&D connection? Perhaps, but it is a post, dammit.

July 25th?

I really have no excuse. I've been busy, sure, sometimes working 12 or 13 hour days. You know what, though? I'm supposed to be retreating forward here. Not standing still. I've got a posting philosophy change and a bit of a schedule that I think will keep me honest. More posts to follow, hopefully tomorrow, definitely by the weekend.