NERDS UNITE! card game

Story

School at Everywhere High is going great and the school's newest club, Nerds Unite, is the biggest thing anyone has seen. People from the sports department have joined the club. Yes, some aren’t very happy but when everyone brings in their nerdy collectibles and talks about the things, they have accomplished it is a great time. Everyone wants to be the top nerd, but who will be the nerd to rule them all? There will be challenges to overcome. At times, the actions of one nerd will affect everyone. Someone may claim the title, but it be won’t until the year ends that the top nerd will be revealed.

Overview

The goal of the game is to gain as many points (collectibles and monster cards) as you can before the end of the school year (cards run out).

Basic Rules

Each player starts with three cards. Each turn involves drawing a card (or drawing up to 3) and playing one card. Depending on the card played battle may take place, cards gained or loss, the gaining or losing of a turn or nothing. Then the game proceeds clockwise.

Once the player draws a card, they can either play a collectible on the table before them, play a phobia on another player, play an inspiration which removes the appropriate numbers of their phobias, play an action card or begin a battle by putting it in the discard pile.

Collectables

These are how you get points to win the game. Add to your collection by playing the collectible card vertically in front of you on your turn. You can’t add a collectible to another player's collection unless an action tells you. Collectables can be discarded but why would you.

Phobias

Phobia cards can be discarded or played on another player. No player can have more than 8 phobias. Phobia cards are laid horizontally beside the other player's collectibles if they have any. When you have a phobia, you can’t add collectibles to your collection.  Phobias are defeated by an inspiration card or by a role of 20 by anyone in battle.

Inspirations

Play an inspiration card to remove phobias. Yes, they can be discarded but do it at your own risk. NOTE: Some inspirations are more powerful than others removing 2 or more so look carefully.

Actions

When you play an action, it is placed on the discard pile and then you must do what it says. If the action card says play immediately it must be played immediately when drawn unless it is one of the first three cards you are dealt. Some actions help, some cost you, some are generally neutral, and some do nothing (Action? cards).

Battle Actions (look for the lightning bolt on the card)

These can be played as a discard, but to be used in battle they must be played at the beginning of your battle. However, if you have the card calling for all nerds to unite it must be played before the first role of battle. As a courtesy, the person beginning battle should give a moment for this card to be played. When all nerds unite the player of the card receives the monster card when the nerds are victorious (which you will be). In the event of a critical fail or the monster wins everyone loses a collectible. 

Battle

On the day you and the other players are taking a collectible to school there is a problem, someone wants to take them. Yes, this is a battle but let’s be honest, you aren’t trying to kill anyone just defeat their horrible plan to take your stuff. The resolve of the monster the players are trying to defeat is listed as their HP. A battle begins when a monster card is laid on the discard pile. When the monster is played the person playing it names the monster and the number of HP, it has. The player who placed the monster now begins the battle. The first player will play any 1 battle action card they want (I assume you understand you can’t play a card that isn’t in your hand) by laying it next to the discard pile in the battle action area (see table play 2).  The player will then roll a 20-sided dice once for himself and once for each collectible he/she possesses. If the total of all the roles is greater than the monster’s HP then that player collects the monster card and sets it beside their collectibles. They have the bragging rights for defeating them. If the total is less than the monster’s HP then the player loses a collectible (place the card beside the discard pile until the battle is complete) and now the next player faces the monster its HP reduced by the previous player's role.  If a player rolls a 20, victory is instantaneous, the player takes the monster card and sets it aside and all phobias on the board by every player are defeated and placed in the discard pile. If the player rolls a 1 it is a critical fail, the monster wins, and everyone loses a collectible to the discard pile. The battle continues until all players have tried to defeat the monster. The player who defeats the monster begins regular play unless the monster is defeated by the player who played the monster card. If no one defeats the monster all collectibles and played action cards go into the discard pile and play begins with the person who started the battle. Points for victories 2 points for each gym coach, 1 point for each cheerleader, 1 point for every 2 jocks or pitchers, and 1 point for every 3 bullies you defeat.

Ending the Game

When the last card is drawn the last round begins unless the players have decided to shuffle the discard pile adding in the Badge of Honor card. When the last card is played the player with the most points wins. On the chance that players have the same victory points then a roll of the dice decides the victor. High role wins (if after 10 tie rolls, one of you might consider buying a lottery ticket because this is more than luck and please share the winnings with us).

Side rules (feel free to ignore these)

You may choose to have the critical fail and critical hit bonus only affect the person rolling.

Burgundy is not red, no matter what my daughter says. Play the game you’ll see what I mean (unless everyone agrees otherwise).

When you roll for a battle be a good sport and show your rolls. Use paper or your smartphone to keep track of HP points lost and the number of roles each player takes. Of course, if your all super-geniuses then you can keep all of it in your head.

Rules are rules unless you decide otherwise, you bought it after all. Changes to the rules made in the middle of the game are kind of cheating so try not to do that.

Leave positive reviews of the game on Amazon, every game store, and gaming site on the internet.

Ideas are always appreciated but sorry you won’t be financially reimbursed for them. Not trying to be stingy but the legalities are a pain. Not to mention lawsuits only make lawyers rich.  

If you like the game buy a copy for the president and most of Congress (your equivalent outside the USA). Who knows maybe a good game night might lead to better conversation and less stupid in politics?

This game is to make people laugh. We don’t hate cheerleaders, jocks, pitchers, and most gym coaches. If you’re offended, sorry, but we aren’t going to change the game.

Table Play

Table Play 2

New Study Proves 6 out of 5 Allow Preconceptions To Blind Cognition.

Yes, 6 out of 5, can you believe it?

All of the fact are in right?

Maybe Not?

Congratulations!!

You checked to see if what was said was true.

Of course, there can't be 6 out of 5, but you probably already guess that most people just repost what they already believe without fact-checking.

You aren't one of those people.

I can't offer you a reward or real data but we already know some people post without checking so congrats on checking. You can feel good about that.

Now if you #share this to see if others are paying attention that is your choice.

Usually, I just talk about what I think, but I can't help, Okay, I choose not to resist, at times, to be a bit or more than a bit sarcastic.

Daydreams

Wow, I'm out of the regular blogging habit. After nearly two years of writing blog on chapters of the Bible getting back to regular posting isn't easy. However, what do we do? Get up and start doing.

I am writing today about Oswald Chambers's devotion, My Utmost for His Highest for today. He mentioned that daydreaming was perfectly fine if you are rehearsing how to do what is right. It is wrong when your daydreaming rather than doing it.

Daydreaming is a useful tool but I agree it is often used as a distraction from really working. I would point out that for those people who are prone to action see all daydreaming as wrong. This, however, is wrong. Working through a problem or a plan in your mind often saves people from mistakes, which some action prone people make. Like jumping out of a burning plane. The person who thought first put on the parachute which the action prone person thought about on the way down, but not after that.

Is that illustration extreme? No not really, but neither is the person who thought about everything they needed to do and finally got it worked out as the plane hit the ground.

There is a time to daydream, but there is a time to act. The key is to know which is which.

Dreams

Scriptures say that God in the last days would speak to people in dreams and visions. We have heard stories about this but at the end of the day, we have to take these stories by faith as there is no way to prove someone had a dream other than by their own testimony. Often we hear things second or third or thirtieth hand so we can't verify anything. 
What we know for sure. God does speak through dreams. He has in the past and I have to believe he still does. Dreams don't have the weight of Scripture any more than my preaching does other than when it confirms it.
Hope for the dying? Could God reach someone with the gospel in their dreams? Sure there isn't anything in Scripture that says He couldn't. I know of someone who accepted Christ in a dream. The problem is though God could do this a sinner doesn't want to wait for a dream to accept Christ or a Christian force on God something we should be doing, shar
ing the gospel.
God is trying to reach people, so we can have hope God might still be reaching out to our dying relatives. This isn't a guarantee they will respond positively even if they knew they were dying. It is only a hope. A welcome hope but ultimately Christians are the ones God wants to use to share the good news.

Just a story

This is just a story, nothing more... 

Writing

“Idiot, Moron” Charles hurried to his study to grab his writing utensils. She was writing again. He wasn’t angry at Elizabeth. In truth, he was thrilled she was writing. He was a writer and he saw in her the ability which would outshine him.

“Tim, you might be the smartest programmer in the world, but you have no imagination.” Charles threw the books, pens, and pencils across his desk. “You might be the savior of mankind but what of its history did you ever think outside…Ah.” The last word came out through clenched teeth.

Charles was nearly sure Tim couldn’t hear him, Part of him wished he did, and part didn’t. He was grateful, but some things made life so much more difficult.

“It isn’t as if I don’t have anything else to do.”

“Elizabeth’s work isn’t finished thankfully. I still have time.”  He just wished he had been paying attention when she had said she was going to write.

“It couldn’t have been a story about an alternate world, could it. It just had to be an alternative history story.” He said threw teeth that were clenched again. “There is still time,” Charles took a deep breath and exhaled loudly, “There’s still time, there is still time.”

Charles pushed a couple of the book aside and took what looked like a leather-bound tomb. He opened it to an empty page and grabbed a pen and started writing.

Elizabeth shared part of her story with her mom and dad. It was a fantastic tale where Ireland was truly a land of magic and magical creatures. It was, of course, absolute fiction. It never ever happened. Though the cities and some of the names were real the story never took place in the real history of mankind. The Roman empire didn’t build a wall to protect gal from the magical creatures of Ireland. There were never giants other than men who called giants because they were naturally taller than others around them. They could never build land bridges from Ireland to England.

There were originally 13 colonies in the New World who did break away from the Old World. Magical enchantments never keep commoners at bay. Though Elizbeth wrote things about a different history they were just made up. They never happened. She just made them up as a great author does. An author worthy of renown.

Charles cringed. He shouldn’t have written that last line. It was done. He was an author. Other stories had written about the power of the author, but they were all wrong. Authors had no powers, no magical abilities to change reality. Even now they didn’t, well… Charles wasn’t going to think about it right now. It gave him a headache. Tim might have had something to do with that, He probably did, Charles thought but he wasn’t sure. He wasn’t going to think about it too much either. Too much danger there.

“Back to writing.” Charles bent back to writing in the tomb.  

Elizabeth wrote more stories about this alternate history but all they were was fiction. Her words were never real. Though her father and mother praised them for being good because they were, they were not true history. Only later would Elizabeth write the true history. It would be then that she would write the truth of things and fiction to cause people to think about life and to just have joy in the moment. It was only after her father told her the true nature of all that her uncle had done did her work change.

It was only after the conversation should her work be considered real. It isn’t real now and wouldn’t be for some time. The End.

Charles dropped the pen as if it was on fire. It bounced off the desk and landed on the floor. He ignored it and closed the tomb. Reaching over he opened another and scanned the pages, then let out a sigh. “Tim, you’re an idiot.”

Still writing

Getting back into the grove of writing on this blog is going to take a little time. There are many things I am doing but I wonder what I should be sharing here. The continuing work in Bible Reflections goes on but this isn't something I write here. This is where I have shared insights I have been having in my life that don't relate to Bible Reflections, so here I go.

I am beginning a new experience by being an instructor for the district of my church. Though I have taught for years this is a new forum. It is a little scary, but I trust it will be good for both me and for those who take the course. There is the chance that no one takes the class but for now, I am not worried about it, I'm going to prepare.

This is where I want to remind myself and anyone reading this, you can do more than you realize if you put yourself on the line. For me, it was volunteering to teach. Yes, I am busy (too busy according to my wife), but for a few weeks of extra work, I can grow and help others grow also. In the end, it will be positive.

So, what are you risking, what are you trying outside of your comfort zone?

The new norm

It has been a few months now since I have finished Bible Reflections' first draft. I find myself adjusting to a new norm. Yes, I still write but not like before. Yes, I still journal but not with the fevered intensity which I had when I finished the first draft. I am getting to a new norm which means getting back to blogging here.

This year I have taken up reading Oswald Chamber's classic MY UTMOST FOR HIS HIGHEST. This and going through the Bible Reflections. Both of these disciplines will help me grow in my faith.

I still don't have a new project to write but there are old ones I need to work on and sometimes this is harder for me. I can honestly say I would rather take on writing a blog for every chapter in the Bible than editing my other books. So maybe, I need to take on the harder work. 

In the church I preach at, I pray and work for a spirit of hope. One can be determined and that is something to admire, but hope is the thing that is catchy. Do I expect something big, no and maybe that is wrong? In truth, it wouldn't take much just a couple of really radically changed lives to raise attendance. Confession, my vision has been too small.

Writing this now fills me with the hope for something big. If it doesn't happen will I give up? No, because I know God works on His schedule in the people of the world. I also know I am, this church, is making a difference in the Kingdom of God. This is ultimately more important than the battles of this one church. I, however, do not give us on the church here in Tell City, nor on the people of this town.

I think of the battle at the gate in Lord of the Rings when Aragorn says, "There may be a day when the strength of men will fail.. but that is not today." For we fight as it were not for a hobbit, but for the King of kings. The war is not lost...if we should fall, but that is not today!