It’s currently 1:15 in the morning.

I should be asleep right about now, but I’m still fairly jazzed up about a secret project I’ve been working on for a while now, and just finished (no details yet, it was just shipped off to the responsible parties a couple hours ago), and I’ve also been pondering some turns of events.

The D&D group has undergone a transformation. Some playstyle conflicts arose, and two of the players left to make way for others who fit in a little better. To that end, I devised a bit of an interviewing process (that I’m still fairly convinced that only I took remotely seriously), with the intention of bringing on two or three new players. The end result was a bit of a surprise, where I suddenly found myself actually willing to take on FOUR new players, bringing the total up to eight, making this only the second-largest game I’ve ever run, and the largest I’ve ever run with an online-only audience. Who are the new players? Well…

Those of you who have been reading some of the older blogs will recognize Llanion, formerly of the Mad Cow Chronicles, which is no longer available on the web. Others may be more familiar with a blogger fairly new to the scene, but gaining in popularity: Kialesse, of The Sisterhood of Kia. This won’t be the first time I’ve been a DM for a couple (she and Achloryn are quite the interesting pair), and it won’t be the first time that I’ve DM’ed with my own significant other in the game as well, who is the third addition to the team. The fourth and final addition, which is also the one that terrifies me simply because of his ability to pick out a story like nobody’s business, is Rades. Yes, that Rades. I have to admit, I’m more than a little intimidated at the thought of being the DM and storyteller for someone who has dissected Blizzard’s lore with the skill of a surgeon, and writes his own established fiction with the flair of a professional writer. I know I’m my own worst critic, but comparing my work to Rades’ is not unlike comparing a Hyundai with a Ferrari. They’ve both got four wheels and an engine, but the Ferrari is going to turn a lot more heads.

I have so much to do, and so much I have been doing. I still haven’t been able to put as much time into the beta as I would have liked in order to test Arms, and I gave up a while back thanks to the bug with CS that forced a client crash every time you used it. I have somewhere between 4 and 8 game sessions to post. I have been dabbling with TERA, and greatly enjoying the combat system. The new players have revitalized my creative process with regards to my D&D world, and I have been scribbling notes like mad whenever I’ve had a spare minute (if I can sort it all out when I’m done having ideas, it’ll be a bloody miracle). Diablo 3 is being released in 6 days. I’ve finished gearing Lelissa for Mists, but Malyss and Velyth are still picking up some late pieces. I’m working out again. I’m still employed at a company I like with a job that I despise. It’s stressful.

Anyway, enough whining. Just look forward to some new character updates soon, and the new D&D session posts. My goal is to get as much caught up as I can before the next game on the 20th, where the new and the old combine and move forward following the death of a hero.

You’ll see. I don’t want to ruin it.