Review: "Victoriana 3rd Edition Core Rulebook" Part 3: "Cogs and Wheels - The Prime Mover"

Following on from my previous two posts where I review the Victoriana 3rd Edition Core Rulebook by Cubicle 7 (Part One, Part Two), here is the third: "Book 3: Cogs and Wheels - The Prime Mover".

This chapter in the book concerns the system that is used to determine how and to what effect the actions of the characters, NPCs and plot happen - as such it is a very detailed chapter! Once again I was curious about the things that had changed and not changed from the Victoriana 2nd Edition Core Rulebook, especially considering that combat appears in this chapter, something I often found difficult in the 2nd Edition rules.

Review: "Victoriana 3rd Edition Core Rulebook" Part 2: "One's Full Measure

Continuing from my previous post, where I looked at the first part of the Victoriana 3rd  Edition Core Rulebook, today I am moving on to the next part: "Book 2: One's Full Measure - Adventurer Creation".

Seeing as character creation is an extremely important part of every RPG system, and given how much I enjoy it as part of the gaming process in every game I play in, I was excited to see how Cubicle 7 might have changed the way things worked an what they had kept the same.

Review: "Victoriana 3rd Edition Core Rulebook" Part 1: "Encyclopaedia Victoriana"

Today I have a slightly different review for you all: a review of a roleplaying rulebook for one of my favourite systems I have ever played or run in!

I have mentioned before in my blog posts that I frequently play in RPGs (roleplaying games). I started in my first year of university playing in a 3.5 Dungeons and Dragons game and haven't looked back since! In my third year of university I ran my very first campaign in the 2nd Edition Victoriana system/setting, and since have run over fifty sessions using that rulebook. It is one of my favourite RPGs out there as it appeals to both my interest in steampunk and Victorian settings and my love of magic.

When I heard a new edition was coming out I was extremely excited, and now, having been given the book for Christmas, I want to take a look at it in the sections it is divided into, and look at how the game has changed from the previous edition. Today I am looking at "Book 1: The Encyclopaedia Victoriana and Selected Articles".

NaNoWriMo 2013: One week on!

So I should begin by apologising for my absence from this blog for a little while: as you can likely guess from the logo above, I was otherwise occupied with NaNoWriMo! I have given myself a slap on the wrist for being so neglectful and am now detoxing from the whole experience (I ate way too many biscuits while it was going on - and also need to relax).

On the bright side, I managed to reach 50067 words by 30th November and so can say that I have won NaNoWriMo, so as well as the slap on the wrist I also did a lot of happy, excited dancing around the flat!

I wanted to take some time to consider NaNoWriMo from the other end, after I spent so long anticipating it and actually doing it. My experience with the entire thing this year was completely different to the way I saw it last year.

Let me start off by saying that my month was absolutely insane. Really, I don't actually know how I managed it. I have a full time job with increasing levels of responsibility, roleplaying games a few evenings a week, choir, Network... Yeah, I'm a busy person. I honestly found the word count very, very gruelling when I considered it in balance with everything else in my life right now. I know that I wouldn't have thought the same if I had dropped out of things a little more, but I also hate letting people down.

As such I also didn't bow out of Athesia - biannual roleplaying game that I am part of, and recently became a senior GM (gamemaster) for. As such I had some duties that I couldn't shy away from, so I did what any good NaNovelist would do and rebelled a little. I counted writing I did in preparation for the game as part of my overall word count for the month. I know, another slap on the wrist, but if I hadn't I never would have felt the motivation to write it or my novel. In the end, that decision was definitely worth it, however - taking the extra time over the plot for it meant that I felt more confident with what I had written and so I didn't spend my entire weekend worried about my word count (I ensured that my pre-Athesia word count was far enough ahead that I could take the weekend off writing quite happily).

I found that the first week I had a lot of trouble making the par daily word count: I was still full of uncertainties and confusion about the tone of my story, and I as writing "whenever I could", which resulted in me scribbling things in dribs and drabs. I know everyone says that writing a little here and a little there adds up, but I found that I wrote more (and more consistently) when I gave myself a certain time frame to write in, for example I would give myself two hours to write what I could and couldn't write outside of those two hours for the rest of the evening.

The most important thing I found, however, was having people around. As well as various friends of mine who were NaNo-ing along with me, I also joined my region's Facebook group, NaNoEssex. While I didn't manage to get to any of the events run by the latter, I found that just being able to talk to other people doing the same crazy challenge as myself was a huge help. When I took part in NaNoWriMo last year, I was unemployed and on Jobseekers Allowance. I was living in a weirdly difficult-to-get-to place and so, aside from my boyfriend and the occasional visit from a friend I was almost entirely alone. I can't even begin to describe how demotivated I was - I still find it strange that I managed to get out 25000 words that month.

But having human contact this year - both physical and digital - proved to be something that kept me going. From checking out my writing buddies' word counts (and getting excited for them when they were doing well) to chatting with people on the NaNoEssex group (and getting excited for them when they were doing well), I felt a lot more "in the loop" and positive than last year. Whether it is a subconscious competitive streak or just the simple knowledge that there were other people just as mad as I was, I loved the social aspect of NaNo this year and I think it really, truly helped me get to the hallowed 50k.

Since November ended this year, I'll admit I haven't done a huge amount of writing: this blog post is the first extended piece of writing I have done. Instead I have picked up a story I finished a little while ago and have started revising and editing it. It's relaxing to take time over something again after the craziness of last month. I have set myself a smaller word count to hit each month for now - between 5000 and 10000 - and hopefully will keep to that.

All in all, this year's experience was far more positive than last, and I'm already planning for April's Camp NaNoWriMo!

Book Review: "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss

Warning: Possible spoilers.

The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss is a book I have been meaning to read for quite some time - and been very excited about reading. Having had it recommended to me by various people and sources, I have finally got around to reading it.

Book Review: "The Time Traveler's Wife" by Audrey Niffenegger

Warning: Possible spoilers.

I bought The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger a couple of years ago at a jumble sale for about fifty pence. Having seen a lot of hype over the novel and the film adaptation, I wasn't sure what I expected from it, but I fully expected to find that it had been over-hyped upon finishing it. I'm pleased to say that I was pleasantly surprised.

Book review: "Temeraire: Throne of Jade" by Naomi Novik

Warning: Possible spoilers for both Throne of Jade and Temeraire, the first novel in the series.

I read the first book in the Temeraire series (Temeraire  or His Majesty's Dragon) by Naomi Novik a few years ago, and thought it absolutely fantastic, and I was keen to read more of the series. It was not until relatively recently I was able to do so, but when I picked up Throne of Jade to read I was excited to revisit some of my favourite characters and the world they inhabited.

Book review: "In Great Waters" by Kit Whitfield

Warning: Possible spoilers.

A few years ago (or possibly longer), I read Kit Whitfield's first book, Bareback (released in the US as Benighted) and I found her prose to be wonderfully constructed and the topic - a world where werewolves not only exist but are the norm in society and those who do not shapeshift at the full moon are seen as the abnormalities - engaging and interesting. So when I found In Great Waters by chance a couple of years ago, I decided to buy it. It then spent some time on my bookshelf as I finished my degree, and now I have finally got around to reading it.