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OK, homebrew can be a PITA, but sometimes it's fun building encounters where you know how your players will react, and you look forward to the final resolution.
They're exploring an extradimensional prison. They'll encounter a graveknight who was a former knight tasked with bringing down BBEG (head prisoner), but who was brought to his knees, murdered, and continued to fight through death and undeath until the prisoners had to flee and he now bars the gates (explaining no prisoner leak so the PCs get manageable encounters up 'til this point).
My players are a "talk first" group, so they'll get his story, ally with him, go in, kill BBEG, head out...
...and the fun question will be how they manage their desire to leave the prison vs. his oath that none shall leave.
I mean, he's undead, so they'll likely just murder him. But it's the kind of semi-moral dilemma I love watching them work through. "Well, he's undead, but he treated us fairly and hasn't broken his word, so we can't just murder him, can we?"
I honestly have no idea how they're going to get around killing him, but it'll be fun watching them try. (And yeah, graveknight, so even if they kill him he'll come back, but then there'll be the whole, "You're now hunted for eternity," which is kind of a downer.)
EDIT: And everyone knows clothes hamper the creative process.
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Well, depending on how forthright the party is, they could always leave a note for when the graveknight reconstitues themselves.
"So, ah, we had to get back to the business of saving all of reality(etc), but rest assured that due to your fair treatment with us we WILL return when the world is saved(etc) to serve out our sentences if you deem it necessary. In the meantime, here is a collection of items you can use to scry on our activities so any burning urges to bring us pain and suffering will be muted by the shenanigans we're getting into.
See you whenever we get this done.
Sincerely,"
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Well, depending on how forthright the party is, they could always leave a note for when the graveknight reconstitues themselves."So, ah, we had to get back to the business of saving all of reality(etc), but rest assured that due to your fair treatment with us we WILL return when the world is saved(etc) to serve out our sentences if you deem it necessary. In the meantime, here is a collection of items you can use to scry on our activities so any burning urges to bring us pain and suffering will be muted by the shenanigans we're getting into.
See you whenever we get this done.
Sincerely,"
LOLOL.
I think the *big* issue is that every single PC in the party is "Chaotic somethingorother". (I think we've got four CGs and one CN.) He is *sooooooo* getting betrayed.
Kind of funny when it's the Lawful bad guys who end up getting hosed.
Like I said, more for the fun of letting them roleplay it out, because they love this stuff.
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When we can afford it, we usually like to get dressed up and go dancing. There's a 1920s big band that I love, the Singapore Slingers, and they always play this little art deco theater in our neighborhood (seriously, half a mile from our house) on NYE.
But it's getting bad in Dallas again, so it's just as well we can't afford it. I'm making a big pot of jambalaya and we're doing movies and board games with the kids.
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Also, RIP Betty White.
2021 can Spock off.
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They're reissuing all the Lone Wolf books. Happy New Year!In other news, today's trip to town to buy cabbage and underpants also involved a trip to Ye Olde Secondhand Bookshop, where they had lots of books.
I bought, for £15, because the vendor thought I had a cheeky face (beneath the mask), or because I made the Secret Sign without knowing it:
1) 'Fantasy Warlord', a failed rival to Warhammer, mainly for the fab Gary Chalk art
2) A book of Chris Achilleos' battle bikini-heavy artwork
3) 1 x Duelmaster gamebook
4) 'The City In The Autumn Stars', by Michael Moorcock
5) 6 x copies of 'Warlock: the Fighting Fantasy Magazine.Not bad.
DID YOU SAY GARY CHALK?!?!
FOR SOMMERLUND
FOR THE KAI
HOLY SHIT HOLY SHIT HOLY SHIT
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Yes, but then the poor chef is in the back trying to do something novel and creative-sounding to...uggg, poor lad. Hope ya feel better there soon Impus Major!
He's already bellowing out songs. Which is hilarious, because he says he still feels horrible. But it's, "Wake up, use the bathroom, bellow out a song, go back to sleep."
Seems like an improvement.
It'll be a hoot if Shiro ends up in a similar boat -- we'll give the people at Alexander's conniptions. Which I almost always do at high-end restaurants because of two facts about my taste buds:
(1) I do not care for shellfish, because whatever "delicate" flavor they are supposed to have tastes like rotting sea water to me. I'm my group's favorite "fake krab" detector because if I like the "crab" dip or "crab" sushi, they know the restaurant is using fake crab. (Which is made from fish, so I find it quite palatable.)
(2) Similarly, I do not care for organ meats because once again the flavor sensation I get is one of intense rot.
So, if you're a high-end restaurant and you can't give your guest foie gras or oysters on the half-shell or lobster bisque, what are you to do?
Er... feed me vertebrates and vegetables. I'll happily take corn or chicken soup over lobster bisque, and steamed broccoli over oysters any day of the week.
I'm easy to please; chefs just like to make it a challenge for themselves.
(The French Laundry stands above and beyond as a restaurant whose entire approach was, "We dare you to try to be unhappy." Their planned meal was full of shellfish, but they had a vegetarian option... for the same price. I ordered it anyway. And it still stands out as the best meal I've ever had, vegetarian or no. Also possibly the most expensive, but I know Alexander's is up there in the stratosphere but I never get to see the bill, so I don't know. So there you go:
(1) Best meal I've ever had.
(2) Most expensive meal I've ever paid for myself.)
I need to eat out with you more.
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New Year's Eve is 'Amateur Night' for would-be social drinkers. There's an idiotic notion that it's the best drinking night of the year (and liquor stores/vendors double down on it).I haven't overly imbibed on New Year's Eve since 2007(?) -- I was invited to a party in the city, had some champagne, got a mild headache. Then because there was one of those people made dinner and was incredibly callous with the ingredients .
Joke was on them.
Spent the next four hours mostly in the bathroom nearly turning it into a hazardous site.
No one dared 'test' again after that.
That is monstrous.
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Fantasy Monster: Kitchen Gremlin...can I eat one?
Or have it sit in a simmering broth and flavor a meal for me?
Rysky has a Caramel Cauldron that she would likely lend...
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Fantasy Monster: Kitchen Gremlin
I love this one. I would suggest it also has mild psychic ability (power of suggestion) and its likelihood of successfully getting the cook to add an outre ingredient to their own dish increases based on the number of dishes being prepared at the same time and the cook's stress level/distractedness.
Else how could I ever have put the vanilla extract into the spaghetti sauce simmering on the stove instead of into the cake batter in the mixer?
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People ask, "Why don't you eat in San Francisco more often?"
Tonight's a great example. Reservations are for 6:30, and it's a 30-minute drive, so even with a cushion of 15 minutes for parking we could leave around 5:45...
...except...
... The Bay Bridge can jam up at any time, so you always want an extra 30-minute cushion for that. Then, since it's New Year's Eve and parking might be a nightmare...
...yeah, I'm on the road before 5:00 pm for a 6:30 pm dinner, and I'll likely be over an hour early. And it's a pretty bad neighborhood, so it's sitting at the bar for an hour before dinner. Whee?
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Fantasy Monster: Kitchen GremlinI love this one. I would suggest it also has mild psychic ability (power of suggestion) and its likelihood of successfully getting the cook to add an outre ingredient to their own dish increases based on the number of dishes being prepared at the same time and the cook's stress level/distractedness.
Else how could I ever have put the vanilla extract into the spaghetti sauce simmering on the stove instead of into the cake batter in the mixer?
See, that's why it has Sleight Of Hand - it merely switched what you put where, and then you started to believe that you made the error yourself.
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See, that's why it has Sleight Of Hand - it merely switched what you put where, and then you started to believe that you made the error yourself.Fantasy Monster: Kitchen GremlinI love this one. I would suggest it also has mild psychic ability (power of suggestion) and its likelihood of successfully getting the cook to add an outre ingredient to their own dish increases based on the number of dishes being prepared at the same time and the cook's stress level/distractedness.
Else how could I ever have put the vanilla extract into the spaghetti sauce simmering on the stove instead of into the cake batter in the mixer?
I am looking forward to springing this one on Hermione!
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Rysky has a Caramel Cauldron that she would likely lend...Fantasy Monster: Kitchen Gremlin...can I eat one?
Or have it sit in a simmering broth and flavor a meal for me?
I want to lick Rysky!
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Fantasy Monster: Kitchen GremlinI love this one. I would suggest it also has mild psychic ability (power of suggestion) and its likelihood of successfully getting the cook to add an outre ingredient to their own dish increases based on the number of dishes being prepared at the same time and the cook's stress level/distractedness.
Else how could I ever have put the vanilla extract into the spaghetti sauce simmering on the stove instead of into the cake batter in the mixer?
...did it taste good?
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HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! COVID FREE NEW JOB WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
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HAPPY NEW YEAR! Love you guys!
May God bless and guide each of you for all of 2022~!
e-Hugs!
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Happy New Year, you fabulous FaWtLites!
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May 2021 lie down and fade away. Happy New Year everyone.
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Happy New Year's folks!
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Why? What? When?! HOW?!
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Why? What? When?! HOW?!I know! Didn't we just do this like 12 months ago?
I am not convinced it was 12 months...
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Yup, it's a new year, apparently.
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Happy New Year!
And I swear, I love my kids.
Continuing our "week from uncomfortable heck", Impus Minor fell ill yesterday with an actual cold. (Since we had 3 extra at-home COVID tests lying around, he took one and it came back negative.) Impus Major went to his party.
As I said my two rules were, "No driving or riding on the freeway" and "text me if you'll be out after 2:00 am or go somewhere else".
I woke up at 1:41 am and he wasn't home. I got up at 1:55 am and started preparing a chastising text. At 1:57 am the Celica pulled up. He walked in the door at 1:59 am. And they hadn't gone anywhere after the party other than to walk to 7-11 to find out it was closed (I didn't know that was possible), then Impus Major drove everyone home so they wouldn't be pedestrians at 1:30 in the morning on New Year's Day (laudable of him), then came home with a minute to spare.
And this is the young man who has ONE one-hour job a week and is still late to it 90% of the time.
He impresses me in his efforts to make sure I'm happy.
EDIT: Oh, dinner was excellent, they seated us the moment we walked in (they were surprisingly empty, though the Bay Area has one of the highest COVID compliance rates in the country so I'm sure Omicron had its effect), and we were home by 8:30 pm, then binge watched a few episodes of Hellbound (another gritty Korean horror series), and the jury's still out on it. Amazingly interesting and well-done so far, but it actually has to go somewhere for me to recommend it. A "slice of life" horror series just won't cut it for me.
Shiro left at 11:15 pm and got home just before midnight, so not a single one of us was on the freeway after 12.
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Happy New Year all you glorious folks!!!
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Am undertaking new years traditions!
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The plot of Hamlet is so convoluted that at one point the main character is kidnapped by pirates, and it's not really a major plot point.
I have now shared this several places. Thank you for it.
Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooh,
Today is the first day of 2022's January,
There are several people alive today, and also a number of canaries.
As well as members of other species,
All of whom, so we were taught in Biology class, eat, breathe, reproduce themselves and also emit waste products, such as carbon dioxide, urine, and faeces.
Which is disgusting but necessary, as it was in 2021,
Which was only occasionally fun,
And I humbly wish that 2022 will be more amusing,
Even though I will spend some of it snoozing.
Thankyou.
Aaaaaaand, the week continues.
We're in the ER because Impus Major got the vaccine-related heart inflammation. Because of course he did. He's in no danger, and the probability of a full recovery is high, but still... 6 hours in an ER for a one-in-a-million side effect.
Just not my week.
EDIT: Aaand... they're keeping him overnight for observation.
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Aaaaaaand, the week continues.
We're in the ER because Impus Major got the vaccine-related heart inflammation. Because of course he did. He's in no danger, and the probability of a full recovery is high, but still... 6 hours in an ER for a one-in-a-million side effect.
Just not my week.
EDIT: Aaand... they're keeping him overnight for observation.
Owie.
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Aaaaaaand, the week continues.
We're in the ER because Impus Major got the vaccine-related heart inflammation. Because of course he did. He's in no danger, and the probability of a full recovery is high, but still... 6 hours in an ER for a one-in-a-million side effect.
Just not my week.
EDIT: Aaand... they're keeping him overnight for observation.
Crikey... Best wishes to him.
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Aaaaaaand, the week continues.
We're in the ER because Impus Major got the vaccine-related heart inflammation. Because of course he did. He's in no danger, and the probability of a full recovery is high, but still... 6 hours in an ER for a one-in-a-million side effect.
Just not my week.
EDIT: Aaand... they're keeping him overnight for observation.
Ugh. Love, hugs and prayers.
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Aaaaaaand, the week continues.
We're in the ER because Impus Major got the vaccine-related heart inflammation. Because of course he did. He's in no danger, and the probability of a full recovery is high, but still... 6 hours in an ER for a one-in-a-million side effect.
Just not my week.
EDIT: Aaand... they're keeping him overnight for observation.
I hate how all we can do in this instance is give good thoughts. Lots of hugs, NH.
Aaaaaaand, the week continues.
We're in the ER because Impus Major got the vaccine-related heart inflammation. Because of course he did. He's in no danger, and the probability of a full recovery is high, but still... 6 hours in an ER for a one-in-a-million side effect.
Just not my week.
EDIT: Aaand... they're keeping him overnight for observation.
praying for him.
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Oof. Sorry to hear that, NH.
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Crud NH, Lady's Favor be with you Impus Major.
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"So, the key goes in the ignition?" - New Guy, dragging down the average human intelligence with him.
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Fantasy NPC: Dance-Is-Life and Life-Is-Dance
A pair of kung fu ballet faeries.
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"Yeah, I grew up in the Bay area but used to live in Texas and I hope to move to Florida this spring!" - New Guy, dragging us all down even further.
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I won't even mention his diatribe about drinking water instead of eating then seguing that into his bowel issues the day previous.
"So, the key goes in the ignition?" - New Guy, dragging down the average human intelligence with him.
hey, once you go keyless, you never look back.
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"So, the key goes in the ignition?" - New Guy, dragging down the average human intelligence with him.hey, once you go keyless, you never look back.
This was a snow blower though, with the key attached.
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Also, new guy had apparently fasted for almost a week before working last night.
So of course when he got food he went with a gas station chili dog.
And it's not like this was a gas station where that's all they had, this was Kwik Trip.