Tag: rpg

Thursday: D&D and More Trip Stuff

alohawild

I woke up again with dreams of travel, and of being lost in dream airports and train stations still in my head. But Wednesday night I slept well and woke up ready to start my day. An improvement over the more vampire feelings towards morning I have had these last few mornings: “Reinfield! Where is the good coffee?”

A huge nutria walked into the backyard and started munching apples and the grass. A South American rodent introduced to Oregon in the last century and now a pest, but mostly ignored by everyone, including predators.

I reheated the coffee. I am drinking not liberal coffee, but the 1972 version of Starbucks, and I grind it every morning. I saw it for sale and thought it would be fun to remember its days in Seattle, when it started at Pike Place Market. Now a holy site for tourists. I bought a mug there on a weekday when the crowds are manageable.

It was my usual morning, and I was practicing my discipline of protecting myself. I checked the transactions collected from all my banks and credit cards in Quicken. I reviewed and updated some. I read and mostly deleted emails; I found an email from Doc B, and I would also get a call from his office later. My letter to Regence and their persistence finally cracked the insurance company, and my CT scan was approved on multiple appeals. I would rebook Doc B’s appointment and have to book my CT scan; both the body and neck were approved. Blood tests have been negative, as have the scans. One last check.

I read the news, and the Blue Wave continued, with Mississippi falling to the Wave. I read many explanations, but most say that promising no new wars, lower prices, and giving away cash isn’t enough when you don’t do it; it’s bad for elections. Also, turning a previously unimportant agency, ICE, into something that kills and brings violence to Americans was not getting any votes. People voted for no war, better immigration controls, not violence, endless wars, and chaos.

Aside: For my few Red folks reading this, I wish you well and point out that the previous President made the same mistakes, and Obmana lost the Senate and House for making similar mistakes. It is always true that war (ours or allies’), higher prices, and, like the current President, telling the American people that the economy is good when it is harsh in places can get you un-elected. The American people want to believe that the President gets-it and connects with them, FDR-like. How modern Presidents forget this is a mystery.

Returning to the narrative, I wrote the story of the previous day until about 10:30. The threads of memory untangled easily, and the story appeared in text without much forcing. Grammarly, my AI editor, tries to rewrite my words, but I annoy it by leaving my words in place.

Deborah is at a conference in Michigan, and I connect with her mostly by text. I miss waking up to her on her phone, waiting for me to finally wake up. I would then climb out of bed, make coffee, and bring it to her. Coffee is always important!

My coffee is reheated 1972 and not terrible. I skip breakfast (I am out of cereal and bananas) and instead try to get my United Airlines (UA) app working again. There are many resets and codes from both my email and my phone to get everything connected again. But poof, I can see my reservation, and everything is tracking the trip to Brazil. Even Canada Airlines and Copa Airlines. I even added my UA SkyMiles account card to my Apple Wallet. Yay!

With all this done, I headed out with no lunch to US Bank. There, Taylor, one of the tellers who sometimes helps me with US Wealth Management items, got me Brazilian currency and money for the trip. This includes part of the trip payment (I will get a receipt from Gordon for it). My request for larger bills was honored for the Brazilian currency.

Next, I drove to AAA and saw Holly, our agent, and we talked about the trip and what to do if someone cannot make it. I also got a money holder that can go under my shirt for the cash. I laughed when I saw the converters, the same ones I ordered. I could have bought them there.

Lunch was at Taco Bell. A Mexican Pizza (which is neither) and some tacos that I will skip next time. I sat in the parking lot, ate them, and listened to Oregon Public Broadcasting. I listened to the news that President Trump is trying to give Putin what he wants and tried to keep the chips flowing to China from Nvidia. I am so beyond eye-roll.

I returned home to rest after getting a take-and-bake pizza and salad (naps are still taken when I can), read, and clean the house. All boring in a blog, but it still filled much of my day. Thanks, dear reader, for staying with me, even for the boring stuff.

I wrote an email to the group with information on PDX, including likely gates and food options near and on the way to our gates, Grasso for me. I urge folks to use the UA app, as it works and covers the whole trip. I also uploaded my travel documents by scanning my passport and dropping my visa file on my phone, and then uploading it. I now see in UA that my connections show that I have the proper documents. I included that to-do in the email.

Aside: I was concerned I would need all three apps: UA, CA, Copa. But the UA app and TripIt seem to have it working. I checked, and I can even change my Copa seats in the UA app. I left them unchanged. Excellent!

Also: I received a welcome from Copa Airlines on Friday (while writing this blog entry). I switched to English, and it was a great online experience. I checked that they also show my seats and that my documents are complete.

At 6:15, and then a bit later, my players arrived. Emma and Mariah arrived together. Joan followed, being a few minutes late. We returned to the Caverns of Thracia, a 1979 AD&D adventure, now converted by Goodman Games to 5E and their DCC system. We picked up where we left off, with the lizardmen having befriended the player characters instead of eating them. We managed to play three encounters in two hours, which is good for new players and lower-powered characters. Also, the adventure is from a time when DMs killed characters with ease, and players were happy to escape the complex alive.

The players discovered a secret door and a battle with classic D&D monsters, gnolls, and then discovered traps. Next, they discovered (making a 20 total) a buried door that warned them it was a magical and evil path. They felt that it was a good idea to take out some evil.

I gave the wight, an undead horror based on a Tolkien creature and also an original creature for the 1970s version of D&D, fewer hit points, as it was trapped in a lost chapel dedicated to death. The players, after we corrected the damage they did, were able to take out the creature (and I suspect my change was unneeded, but it was a CR3 and would, according to expectations, kill a character as they are first level — a CR of two levels above players is considered a deadly encounter).

It was fun, and we broke up with an ominous view of a 20-foot-tall robed thing in the next room. We will play again in December.

A picture from the next morning before I put it away. I keep forgetting to take a picture during the game. I didn’t have a 20′ foot cloaked figure, so I used a giant mummy I built from a Happy Meal toy. The scale is right.

With that done, I put away the food (sneaking one 1/2 slice of pizza) and put on the new season of The Rings of Power, which follows no known Tolkien canon, but I still like it. Much like Peter Jackson’s movies, they harvest a story from the text and make it work for the screen, and in this case, a TV series.

They managed to cover all the best characters in the first episode, and now it’s five years later. I enjoyed it and was on the edge of my seat a few times. The Ringwraiths (Ringservants now, as they are not converted to the undead yet) are introduced, and the three rings are protecting the elves. Sauron is failing to make the One Ring and is mocked by a dead Elven smith, Celebrimbor, and the slaughter of his smiths and destruction of his records. Burned on the orders of the Orcs in the last season. I like that they have kept the actor for Celebrimbor as a ghost or memory for Sauron only. Excellent.

I went to bed after that. I am always tired after playing DM for D&D. I slept through the night and was surprised to wake at 7.

Thanks for reading.

Tuesday: Games, Rain, and Dinner

alohawild

It is another Tuesday, which means getting up in the dark to my alarm, reheating some coffee, and trying to get all my morning tasks done. I could hear the rain before I saw it. It was constant, but the ground was not yet saturated, so my backyard did not fill, and I planted grass in the spot that fills and let the grass drink some of the water. Leaf fall has created some local problems, as I have noticed a lack of diligence in clearing leaves from drains. This means huge puddles on roads and various low spots in Beaverton, Portland, and places with more cement than grass. The water can quickly swell to four inches in places. The extra pressure then sends large rafts of leaves into piles that dam up the drains. Like the spice on the desert planet in sci-fi, the water must flow!

I wrote until 8:30 and downloaded my transactions to centralize them in Quicken, so I have a view of my finances in one place (I still have to look at US Bank, as the IRA balance isn’t sent to Quicken, and the car loan is booked only as a debt and asset of matching value). It is helpful. I have been slipping of late and not updating the transactions; I fixed a group of them Wednesday morning. Better. Discipline is important, and I will check everything again in the next couple of days.

I did not finish the blog, showered and all that; I grabbed my laptop and Kindle and boarded Air VW the Gray, having forgotten to charge it. But 34% is good for more than 100 miles. Navigation gave me the disappointing news (I am using Apple’s) that traffic was heavy and slow. And it was. I arrived, splashing through some swollen puddles, one on an on-ramp to the Marquam Bridge. I arrived and parked on the street by Richard’s house. The street was full of mushy crushed leaves. I was fifteen minutes late; the trip took an hour.

Before leaving (backtracking a bit), my lawn service was parked across my driveway. The leaves in my yard looked like a tree had declared war and used a leaf bazooka on my house and yard. I apologized to the yard guys, as they would be spending quite some time collecting the yellow and red proof of the season. I usually see an extra $20 on my bill. I agreed to this because my lawn service at first refused to remove the leaves. It is an excellent deal.

(Ricard in blue is recording our success in the Board Game Geek app. James is in Gray).

Returning to being Portland, Robin could not make the game at the last minute; ISS Vanguard, a story-based board game, was out. I suggested Return to the Dark Tower, a game I had only read about, and one of Jame’s games stored at Richard. James did the teach for the game while Richard did the setup, but I did get in trouble and got a pass for a mistake (losing the game on the second turn seemed a bit extreme). It took until almost 11 to get the game going.

This is a cooperative board game but not a role-playing game. More like a combined solo play with shared objectives. There is some limited interaction. An app runs the game, and a huge electronic black tower rotates and spits out skulls, which are a form of corruption marker. It is quite clever and reminds me of The Lord of the Rings Pandemic version with a dice tower. It is based on an old board game, not a movie, and revised to be cooperative. It is its own IP.

Despite my initial mistake, I enjoyed the game and quickly learned I was playing a different type of character than James and Richard, who were reveling in battles. I was clearing corruption and pushing toward the final battle. By 1ish, we had moved to the endgame, and Richard was able to, thanks to his massively built-up character. The price is about $350 for the complete version. Basic ones are less. I cannot recommend it at that price, but play someone else’s version and remember it takes three AA batteries and an app.

After that, I found a parking spot on Broadway and would leave my hat there at the Broadway Grill. The rain had stopped for a moment, and I walked out thinking I had it on. I called later, and yes, they have it, and I will see them on Wednesday to get it back.

I had a bowl of chili and a Caesar salad, but was surprised that Mr. Toad’s Wild Red Ale, something I have ordered there for more than a decade, was no longer offered. Wow! I had some rice beer and wrapped my coat tighter as the wet cold seemed to get into my core. I finished the blog there. The salad didn’t get finished, but the hot, spicy chili helped.

The water was nearly flowing over the sidewalk as the leaf dams rose, increasing the pressure in the street. I nearly cleared the mess, but I didn’t want to get soaked. It is Portland; if the water runs on the sidewalks, it could flood basements, but folks know what to do here.

Puddles by the house weren’t an issue; the water was already receding, and leaf dams were being broken. My lawn was now just sprinkled with leaves: bright yellows and reds against the bright green grass. My roses’ blooms are rotting before they can open. The roses are growing slower now and will soon just sit and sleep until the days get longer after December 21st, the winter solstice this year.

I napped the rest of the afternoon away. My sleep has been short lately. I found a text from Mariah and learned that Emma was available for dinner too. We picked the not-cheap Golden Valley Brewery as I had a coupon (but still it is about $60 each). It was new to Emma who I picked up.

We stopped next at Powell’s. I had a copy of a book I did not have from my Kickstarter for the Caverns of Tracia. There were bonus maps, but I had no material that matched them. I remembered I cut my order at the last minute from all-in to just 5E stuff. I do not play DCC, an alternative to Dungeons & Dragons, which is the bread and butter for Goodman Games, which did the Kickstarter to convert the AD&D Guilds’ Guild adventure to newer tabletop role-playing games (TTRPGs). They did not do a 5E conversion for the maps, since it was all new material. Hmmm. I ordered the DCC guide for $10 from Powell’s.

A quick look, and yes, it was what I needed if I ever wanted to use the maps (not this time, but maybe some day). I would have to convert it to 5.5E D&D if I used it, but that is not too difficult (I do have their 5E monster and magic guide and one 1st-level stand-alone 5E adventure). I did read many comments criticizing Goodman Games for not producing all the work in 5E, but I remember it was clear, and I did, on purpose, not get this guide. But now I decided to acquire it.

Mariah was waiting for us, and we soon were buried in excellent food. I did not like my salmon, as it had a strong flavor; my mistake. We chatted about D&D, books, and writing. It was an excellent dinner.

I returned home and put away the solo board game, Plague of Dracula; I had left it out because I finished late, and I had no time in the morning to put it away. I did the dishes. I did not fold the laundry.

I finished Louise Penny’s A World of Curiosities, the 18th novel in the Canadian Crime series with Chief Inspector Armand Gamache. I had stopped reading them as I did not want to run out and, while well written and full of life lessons, poetry, and, well, Canada, the author covered terrible crimes too. I cannot recommend it more, but I understand they are dark, and one ended with a funeral for a major character. I cried all through that.

I slept after that, just before midnight. I had dreams of filling out visa forms and then being back at work, and I woke with a start at 5:30 and had trouble returning to sleep, as if I needed to code something or fill out papers or something like that (the dreams/nightmares fade from my memory).

Saturday: No Game and Lots of Tasks

alohawild

On Friday, Richard asked me for suggestions for board games for our usual Saturday night play, and I was hoping to play the newish Fromage game or another game of the same ilk, but themed around baking. On Saturday afternoon, Richard sent me a note that it was just the two of us, so I decided to skip.

I had traveled to Portland that afternoon and was now drinking a beer (just one now, as I am cutting back) and eating a bowl of peanuts. I finished my Dungeons & Dragons paperwork; my character was now 15th level (12th-level sorcerer/3rd-level bard) in M@’s Sunday game. I had to give up a magic item (only to discover, as often happens in 5.5E, that a rule change means I can keep it and had to redo my work again Sunday morning) and correct some mistakes. These were in an area I seldom, if ever, use, and after manually updating a character fifteen levels, a few slipped in.

After talking to Deborah, I headed home, finished my beer and peanuts, and paid my bill. Lucky Labrador’s on Hawthorne was busy, and I had to park on the street for the first time in months. The staff was delighted to be busy. I chatted with Deborah as I crossed Portland and Beaverton, and then we did one of our favorite long-distance activities: watching a show together. Elsbeth gets better each season and reminds me of Columbo and Nero Wolf books. The main characters become settled, and the actors become the characters for me. It is wonderful to see an old formula still work. But underlying currents also become clearer with each season, adding to the story and possibly changing the beloved main characters. This is a newer formula, and I like that too.

We managed two shows, and then it was late, and Deborah said good night and ended her day. She watched the shows in bed with her dogs. I made dinner, a salad (as I promised myself), read, did the dishes, and cleaned up the kitchen a bit.

I was soon in bed, reading more Dungeons & Dragons adventure, The Caverns of Thracia, that I am thinking of using for a new Thursday night game. It would be less work to use premade stuff. I also got that as a Kickstarter, and it would be a shame to leave it on a shelf. Unlike the three volumes the next adventure in the set took, this one uses a one-inch-plus-thick book that includes the AD&D version and is a bit unwieldy. The Kickstarter includes a supplement of player handouts that makes that part easier. It lacks large maps or other cool items like the Beadle & Grimm versions of other adventures (though those are often $400+; I can see why the Kickstarter did not go that far, and B&G usually works on established adventures).

I noticed a flaw in the adventure’s flow, and I think I had that problem when I played it thirty-five years ago. I worked out how to solve it. I will have to start making notes on how to play it. I am also headed toward removing some of the complexity, as it will not add to the enjoyment of the game and will take time. There is only so much time for gaming; it is best to remove anything that doesn’t improve the experience, a lesson I learned from M@.

I purchased The Borgias, an old BBC show from Apple TV, and watched an episode. I did buy a season, but I may have made a mistake. I hope it gets better. I do like this time of history and know the Medici’s story. We will see.

It was soon after 10, and with the time change, early rising a few times this week, and two vaccines (my left arm hurts from the COVID-19 shot), I tire easily and feel like I am dragging all day. I put aside the adventure, turned off the light, pulled up the blankets, and instantly fell asleep. I woke around 3, proved I could rise, and also proved I was hydrated. I woke in the dark before sunrise on Sunday.

Back at the start of Saturday, I rose in the dark, overheated in my 66°F house under too many blankets. I managed to kick some off, but sleep still didn’t return, so I crawled out into the cold house (it would soon heat to 69°F), found my slippers and robe, located liberal coffee already made, and reheated it in the microwave.

Breakfast was just a banana. I need to make more bread for toast. I use a cheap Amazon Basics bread-making machine. I may go back to the old-school way I learned, like many, during the pandemic.

I puttering around the house after the blog and reheated the Indian-style food I made the day before. It is too much food, and next time I need to split this up into smaller containers. I watched more Battleship New Jersey videos and ShipHappens on YouTube. I then headed to Portland.

And that is full circle. Thanks for reading.