We visited Jen at her new house in Philly this weekend to play D&D.  It's a pretty nice place.  The only thing that I didn't really like about it (and it wasn't a big deal) was the lack of yard.  Actually, that would probably suit me better than having to mow.  Of course, Abby would probably enjoy grass to stain the knees of all of her clothes.

After dinner, we played D&D.  Dave ran this City of the Spider Queen module we've been going on for a while.  I really hate drow.  I think this game is having problems, though.  As always, the first issue is that it's difficult to remember what we did in the previous session when that session took place three weeks prior, but there's nothing we can do about that since it's based around Jen's work schedule.

Even when we finally clear up where we left off, I'm not really sure what's going on in the game.  That is, why we're bothering to seek out these drow anyway.  "The duke" has apparently commissioned us to do so, but my feeling is pretty much, "Do it yourself!"  The underdark is dangerous and I have no compelling reason to trapse around underground with a flute and a song.  (I'm playing a bard, see...)

There are more meta-problems, though.  There are places and things that we have not investigated.  But none of the players know (ok, maybe just me) where they are.  I can't visualize this dungeon at all.  Last night I pretty much just went where people told me.  There was one point when I thought we were waiting for something on the surface, and it turned out that we were hiding in an alcove somewhere under ground.  I think that at some point someone might have mentioned that I was being teleported so that I could at least have the option to make a save against it.

At this point, I don't care to kill the drow.  I brought enough books with me to the game to make a new character, because I figure that my lack of enthusiasm for dark elf killing will probably end in my death.  Oh, well.  My next character may be a ranger/cleric.  Maybe five levels of Ranger and nine of cleric should get me something good, neh?  I could take favored enemy, drow or spider, and learn some anti-poison/healing stuff to deal with all of the spiders.  I wonder if there is a system in place for creating characters that can deal with animals like gargantuan spiders.  Maybe Dave would let me troupe-play the bard so I could swap in a new character for this adventure temporarily.  Hmm...

Anyway, I made 4th-level fighter for my bard and took the two-weapon fighting feat.  So I can fight much better now (an additional +2).  My masterwork bard song is still doing good for the party, but I would like to invent a magical music device.  Something like a flute that creates reasonably powerful magical effects when played.

I'm not going to be able to play the "evil" game next week, since I have other plans.  So my rogue/sorcerer will have to wait.  I think I made that character wrong, too.  But he has a decent enough personality.  Flagrant back-stabber.  We'll see in two weeks.

In the meantime, I have a couple ideas rolling around in my head for a new game system.  It's going to be quite different.  A meta-system.  Unique, in fact.  My in-head working title is "The Onyx Mirror".  I've got ideas to meld the engine into three different settings.  One fantasy, one modern valley horror (aka Sundown), and one... something else.  Anyway, keep an eye out for more news on that front.