Long Weekend Downtime
If it weren’t for the fact that I’m a half decent gardener, I’d let my garden grass and dandelions overrun my garden. I can’t even say that I’m a fully decent gardener because I let my plants live by a survival of the fittest rule (after I yank out most of the weeds).
However, what I do like about gardening is what it does for my subconscious. My brain wanders through new creative territory and over troublesome problems. Sometimes, those troubles are the chapters of my work in progress.
One of the chapters of my WIP needed to be moved to the front of the book. Yes, it needed to be moved. Apparently, characters are not the only ones with lives of their own. I made the change on Friday, and although it was the right thing to do for the story, it had a knock on effect. The fall-out sat with me all weekend.
Instead of fighting with my creations, I stepped away and paid attention to my garden, another thing of beauty with a life of its own. A little while ago, I created a 14th century medicinal flower garden as a way to get back into my medieval hobby in a way that also accommodated my parental needs. While much of that set-up has changed, my success inspired me to pay a little bit more attention to my garden, and other areas around my house.
Mother nature always wins.
I still curse gardening (when I do it), but I enjoy the freedom that it gives my creativity when I let my mind free flow.
I solved my problem, and I’m fired up for the completion of the manuscript.
But, before I jumped back into my brain, I gave myself a free time with fellow TEGG author, A.J. Hare. What better way to celebrate the birth of Britain’s Queen Victoria than by having fun in a hearty Peter Pan themed game?
A.J. introduced me to Thomas M. Gofton’s Neverland’s Legacy (Lynnvander), a cooperative skirmish tabletop RPG in which players live the daring lives of Peter and his friends, or as Captain Hook and the scourge of the Neverland seas.
It’s been a long while since I played a tabletop RPG (Role Playing Game), and Neverland’s Legacy did not disappoint. Players work together to overcome challenges randomly set in front of them by the shuffle of cards or roll of the dice on either the decks of the pirate ship or on the island of Neverland.
We opted to play as traditional heroes on this round. I’m not always dark. Tinkerbell caught my eye, not because of my fondness of fairy tells, but because of her cutting insults. Apparently, this little lady gives you quite a tongue lashing if you’re playing as a pirate.
I set the ball of holy-poopness rolling when, after three turns, I introduced pirate Bill Jukes to the fray. This tattooed tough guy made sure that sniper pirates filled the ship. Turn after turn saw Tiger Lily and I precariously balancing our four potential actions (with each hit of damage, the dice determine your actions for you) with our resources (stolen pirate treasure, healing apples, fairy dust, and special destiny tokens).
I loved how we had to work together to defeat the pirates, who moved and interacted with items on the ship during each turn – often complicating matters to our dismay! At one point, I thought we were done for. The lower front hold of the ship had a number of pirates, in the same place from where we had to rescue Michael, we each had one hit point left, and the dice controlled half of my actions. Randomness added excitement and lots of groaning from me.
In the end, dinnertime saved us from the wrath of Captain Hook and Mr. Smee, both of whom appeared when the second hostage, John, appeared, once again on the lowest deck. By fluke, we rescued John, then an evil bout of dysentery overcame Hook and the game abruptly ended.
And, I’ll pay Lynnvander and Mr. Gofton the best compliment: Torran took one look at the game as we packed up, then asked A.J. if he would mind leaving it behind. Torran *never* asks to play tabletop games, not even Hungry Hippos!
I think the rules are very complex for my wee man with an aversion to turn taking and following rules, however, if someone would like to suggest a similar, simpler RPG tabletop game, I’m all ears!