| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
We just came from Anaheim. This summer is Orlando. Taking my best friend and his wife for their wedding gift.
Ah, have fun then! And congratulations to them!
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
TL, to facilitate meeting planning, our Disney trip is from May 29th to June 9th.
AWESOME~! I will let my calendar wife know! :D
EDIT: And yes, I do enjoy horning in on other people's vacations. But I buy them food, so I'm sure it's OK.
... so what you're saying... is... you're coming to Orlando and/or Ocala to give us food?
... I'm very okay with this...
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Plenty of Ice cream right now in Wisconsin, just saying.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
You should check out my thread about recreating Predator.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
I'll try to remember to clue you in on our spring trip, once we figure out if we're heading back in February or March,Ah, have fun then! And congratulations to them!
Well, I'll be there (Disneyland) in early April chaperoning the high school choir (unbelievably fun -- I recommend it to everyone! Though if you're not a parent your sudden desire to hang around with 100+ high school students may be considered, er, "worrisome"). I think this year it's April 8.
Then we'll be doing the Bats in the Sun day weekend, so May 6-7.
Finally, we're significantly cutting short our July 4 trip, but likely there June 30-July 5 or so.
So now everyone knows when to loot NobodysHome's house!
Of course, last time we were robbed I was a grad student and NobodysWife was a receptionist, so the miscreant made off with a jar of loose change and a roll of stamps.
Some successful robberies are more successful than others. At least they didn't LEAVE us some change with a note saying, "You need this more than I do..."
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Can people poor enough to loot afford the commute to loot places out there.
And then everything is password protected and GPS trackable.
Plus then you have to give a cut to the Sons Of Anarchy.
I once had someone break into my jeep by shattering the back window, leave all my old college books and pretty much everything (I didn't find anything missing) after rifling through it all, and left what seem to be large handfuls of loose change that I know for a fact was not previously in my car.
Go figure.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
My favorite-ever car break-in was way back in 1972 or so...
...my friends' parents were driving an old 1968 VW squareback, and left food in the front seat. In Yosemite. In summer.
So the helpful bear decided that they needed to learn a lesson, ripped open the hatchback, ate the food, left a "calling card" dead center of the car, then ripped off one of the back doors to depart. Heck with going out the way you came in!
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
OK, after losing my entire lunch hour to this phenomenon, I thought I'd conduct a second totally-random survey:
At the grocery store, do you self-bag or just stand there?
I ask because I basically just lost my lunch hour in a loooong grocery line, watching people stand there, hands empty, patiently waiting for the checker to finish checking all the items, then stand there, patiently waiting for the checker to bag all the items. Timing the two (did I mention I spent most of my lunch hour in a line... with THREE people ahead of me?), they were about equal. So if people just stepped up and bagged their own groceries, the line would move twice as fast.
Yet in the entire store, I and one other guy were the only ones who self-bagged. Everyone else just waited. And waited. And waited.
What was odd was that I overheard the other self-bagger ask why no employees were bagging, and the checker responded with a mysterious, "Oh, California just passed a law about that."
I hadn't heard of any such ridiculous law, so I was wondering how many self-baggers and how many patient waiters we have?
(Having a kid with you or any other disability automatically qualifies you for the, "Guilt-free patient waiter" line...)
EDIT: Totally wrong thread, but it's TL, so he'll forgive me!
| 3 people marked this as a favorite. |
'Yarrite wi' yer packin', luv?'
'Yur'
That's how the conversation goes, after which I fling it all in a canvas sack myself and leave the supermarket as quickly as possible, preferably through the window or up the chimney.
I can't beat bear! Awesome! Awful!
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
I once had someone break into my jeep by shattering the back window, leave all my old college books and pretty much everything (I didn't find anything missing) after rifling through it all, and left what seem to be large handfuls of loose change that I know for a fact was not previously in my car.
Go figure.
I had someone break into my car and steal what they must have thought was a denim purse.
It was actually my wife's bible in a denim cover.
Talk about someone "needing it more than I do"
Honest, we still had several at the house....
RPG Superstar 2015 Top 32, RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
OK, after losing my entire lunch hour to this phenomenon, I thought I'd conduct a second totally-random survey:
At the grocery store, do you self-bag or just stand there?
I ask because I basically just lost my lunch hour in a loooong grocery line, watching people stand there, hands empty, patiently waiting for the checker to finish checking all the items, then stand there, patiently waiting for the checker to bag all the items. Timing the two (did I mention I spent most of my lunch hour in a line... with THREE people ahead of me?), they were about equal. So if people just stepped up and bagged their own groceries, the line would move twice as fast.
Yet in the entire store, I and one other guy were the only ones who self-bagged. Everyone else just waited. And waited. And waited.
What was odd was that I overheard the other self-bagger ask why no employees were bagging, and the checker responded with a mysterious, "Oh, California just passed a law about that."
I hadn't heard of any such ridiculous law, so I was wondering how many self-baggers and how many patient waiters we have?
(Having a kid with you or any other disability automatically qualifies you for the, "Guilt-free patient waiter" line...)
EDIT: Totally wrong thread, but it's TL, so he'll forgive me!
This makes me curious about where you shop. I do the bulk of my grocery shopping at Target and Aldi.
At Target, bagging your own groceries isn't an option: the cashier sets an open bag right next to the scanner, and they bag as they scan. Fortunately, this also means that the process is relatively efficient, dodging the twice-the-time scenario you described. But still, there's no choice to be made.
At Aldi, it's the other way around: the cashier is scanning your stuff and chucking it back into your previously-emptied cart, and the moment everything's paid for you're being sent off to a counter at the side to handle your acquisitions however you see fit while the cashier moves on to the next customer. Again, efficient; again, no choice/option.
I honestly can't think of a time I've been in a checkout lane where there was actually a choice to be made between self-bagging or waiting for the cashier to do it after the purchasing process was complete.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
The stores are: Target, Trader Joe's, and my corner store, all in the S.F. Bay Area.
Yeah, the Target sometimes has a checker that bags, and sometimes doesn't, in which case I bag.
The Trader Joe's was the egregious one last time -- the checker would check ALL the items first, THEN get the bags, then very carefully sort through the now-checked items to put things in the bag in the correct order.
I suspect it was some corporate mandate engendered by someone's irate letter about crushed groceries, and given infinite time it's correct; see what you have before you start bagging. But with six lines, all with 10-15 people in it, your meticulousness is costing several dozen people quite a bit of time...
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Plenty of Ice cream right now in Wisconsin, just saying.
And literally every other time of year:)
MERRY CHRISTMAS EVE and (just in case I miss you) MERRY CHRISTMAS~!
God bless you all, and I hope your holidays are awesome!
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Merry Christmas Eve, and a Merry Christmas, all!
God bless you, and may you have a safe, wonderful family time!
The same with me, my friend!
Merry Christmas!
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
May you and your family have a safe and Mery Christmas.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
HAPPY NEW YEARS TO YOU AND YOUR FAMILY!!!
May the new year see alot of posts favored by you.
Huzzah! Thank you!
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
That awkward moment where, as a GM, you've realized you made a mistake, but fixing the mistake would look like you're... targeting and/or cheating in one-ups-manship. :/
Sigh.
On the other hand! Nearly memorized my orange belt tapes~! Woo~! :D
(And I've received one tape for it!)
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
That awkward moment where, as a GM, you've realized you made a mistake, but fixing the mistake would look like you're... targeting and/or cheating in one-ups-manship. :/
Sigh.
Might I suggest the sudden appearance of the Syrus-Terrigan-approved Ultra-Doominator Destructor Colossus? Nothing like a global cataclysm to break things . . . .
But, in seriousness -- Yeah. Always hate those moments.
No chance of a mutually beneficial resolution?
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
I could just hand-wave some stuff, buu~uut, it's frustrating, as I'd built things carefully to do a thing, and only now I need to do it either without that thing, or just kind of arbitrarily shut down a thing the PC is doing.
It's okay. I'll work it out after a fashion - most of it's kept hidden from the PCs anyway, it's just not my favorite feeling.
"Yeah, okay, everything works fine. Oh, wait, no."
I know the gist of how I'm going to handle it. It's just not a great feeling to find mistakes that could, if fixed, feel bad for a PC.
Crosspost Stravaganza:
Though my computer must be shut down from storms, I will post to keep this in "recent posts" to be able to easily find it again!
Question of the Day: Do you ever do similar weird strategies to keep things you might otherwise "lose" in computer tabs or similar?
Oh, and I totally want to check out this article later.
EDIT: And I want money so daggum bad; money kind of sucks and is lame, but I wanna be able to throw it at people, 'cause cool stuff!
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
I think you should know, my dyslexic brain originally read that as you "want a monkey so bad"
That's just as well. Mine did too.
There are a lot of great posts, recently - a thing I've wanted to say for a while, but kept having lousy internet prevent!
Also: cap, have you been post-diving on me? I noticed some new favorites for some slightly older posts, recently.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
So why were you so late with the Happy Birthday...and Merry Christmas...and Happy New Years?
... busy, out of town, and distracted!
But I did hit FaWtL! :D
Want a monkey so bad is funny. Has anyone had a monkey for a pet yet? I think they can be domesticated, though you should expect the usual monkey business.
XD
CROSS-POSTED FROM FaWtL:
And now, for now reason I can determine, a very long conversation that FaWtL just had.
Maybe it's that I get called a hero.
Maybe it's just an easy way to mark these ideas so that I can use them later.
I don't know.
But here it is, nonetheless.
I need help.
I committed a bad n00b GM error yesterday.
We had finished up a Beginner Box extension module and were in Sandpoint doing wrap-up and level-up. The last thing the module tells you is that the Orc Boss has a message on him in Orcish. The party gives it to Mayor Kendra, she gets a wizard to come in and translate it, and the party asks, "What does it say?"
I realize I hadn't decided what I would tell the party yet.
I look down at the two options on the sheet in front of me, and I see
"Maybe it’s not a message from the orc chieftain, but instead it’s orders from a rogue wizard who was recently banished from Sandpoint for practicing necromancy…one who promises that he will use his knowledge of the area (and an army of the undead) to help the orcs to once and for all destroy the town?"
So I decide, "Hey, yeah, that looks cool," and I run with it.
My Kindergartener asks, "What's necromancy?"
I explain, gently.
My almost-four-year-old says, "Cool! Let's kill it!"
My husband does the Snoopy eyebrows look he does when he feels I've made a reckless decision.
I try to punt, but I'm feeling panicked and my brain and my mouth are on different wavelengths. I ramble on a bit about how Sherriff Hemlock is going to send a squad to scout out the wizard's camp with a couple of mages from Turondarok Academy and report back in a few days' time, and sent the party on yet another random ancillary module to continue to boost up a bit.
NOW WHAT DO I DO?!?
Clarification: Are you trying to avoid exposing them to undead, or do you not have anything prepped?
Rise of the Runelords:I can loan you Rise of the Runelords, which has a simple little insane asylum with a necromancer hiding in the basement, but it is a bit graphic for the kids. You'd have to tone things down a bit. Maybe a "rest home". But it's got half-orc bouncers you could change to orcs, so in a pinch it might work.If you want to avoid undead entirely, I recommend skeletons. Gore-free, still undead, and most young ones love hitting them with sticks because of the satisfying clacking.
Skeletons are okay.
Concerns are:
1. Nightmares.
2. Party readiness (they're 3rd level.)
Curse of the Crimson Throne:Remember that crazy little derro you guys fought in the cave at the end of Book 1? He wasn't a necromancer, but he had a Robe of Bones that let him throw skeletons and zombies at people. And I think if his appearance doesn't creep them out, the kids'd love whacking on a derro.Also, Lesser Animate Dead is a 2nd-level cleric spell. Maybe this guy is actually just an evil 3rd-level cleric. The party would clean his clock easily.
Just 'cause he dresses in robes and cackles maniacally doesn't make him powerful. Just ask Captain Yesterday!
I'm afraid I can't help with the nightmares...
Oh, and since you're back online and we're e-mailing back and forth, don't forget I have all the APs, most in both PDF and hard copy, so if you want to borrow something a bit more robust you're welcome to any of them.
The kid-friendly AP threads all point at Legacy of Fire as a good, Arabian Knights-themed one, though I'm posting on FaWtL because these people are both silly and wise, and may have better, more recent suggestions. (I know Captain Yesterday was having all kinds of fun with his kids in Iron Gods -- a sci-fi crossover AP.)
You've seen my bookcase. Feel free to borrow freely. For free?
(the other idea)Re: lisamarlene and NH's suggestion - he basically stole the one I was going to add, but, if you need a backstory about how a 3rd level cleric could have such a powerful robe, it's actually not too hard to justify. Simply have an actual necromancer that cray-cray blue-beard is a disciple of, say, a skeletal champion, or something, and have that guy (a crafter-cleric, naturally) have given these robes to his disciples before leaving to follow his master - a bonafide lich - into the great beyond.
The entire purpose was some sort of insane scheme of ever-weaker-undead, and since you can't have non-sentient disciples, skeletal champion dude was like, "Yeah, cool, we stop here."
That probably doesn't stop the ugly evil sm***-like figure from calling the mindless skeletons his "disciples" though - remember, they're all insane.
Also could help if the skellies are dancers, maybe play the soundtrack to Crypt of the Necrodancer*, or, if that's not a good style, something more like Marley and Marley or Shiver My Timbers - - or, if you think they'd like it (and you're okay with some of old-school Disney's more macabre stuff), the Silly Symphonies - The Skeleton Dance, and certainly describing antics like one of them riding another that's upside-down, like a pogo stick, or playing their own ribs like xylophones could be funny enough to distract from the macabre or scary nature.
Tacticslion is my hero.
I'm seeing something like "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" here (they loved Fantasia, so they will understand that the student was greedy, wanted to do things he wasn't ready to handle, didn't understand why it wasn't okay, then threw a temper tantrum and stomped off to go study with (actual necromancer), who had died and left his stuff lying about, so this wanna-be Emo Kylo Ren tries to use the old wizard's robe and staff and books but mistranslates key words of the spells, causing them to turn out not quite right in a funny way. Like the skeleton captain is supposed to have weapon mastery longsword, but is given mastery of long-word instead. But since skeletons can't actually talk, it just stands there, flapping its jawbone up and down and gesticulating wildly, trying to communicate. The only orcs that follow it are outcast orcs that washed out of their own tribes for random reasons who are impressed by the fancy trappings.
[Adds cape]
:) Go for it!!!
By the way, many of us here on the boards are GMs, so we really have no problems in bashing out solutions for fellow GMs. Just ask, any of us would be glad to help out. :)
Had a hunch that might be the case.
btw, I really liked your skip code suggestion. I've wanted to use that trope ever since I read the Addams Family tv show novelization (sadly lost now) that made a skip code out of a horrid poem about primroses.
But, because I was extemporizing wildly, I can't for the life of me remember what I said well enough to try to do that this time.
Good enough. Just keep that idea in your Box of GM tricks. Remember the first law of Misdirection, "Not everything may be as it seems."
By the way, I really like your idea of a failed apprentice.
Lisamarlene, just had a brilliantly wicked idea. A skip code where 'n' is a successive prime number.
Oh, by the way. I've been a Player/GM since 1988. So I've got a lot of experience, no pun intended.
You could also apply Secret Page to hide the content of your messages. :)
Muwahahahah~!
EDIT: added a quote I accidentally missed
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
So, yeah:
1) who wrote Hebrews?
2) best epistle? best of Paul's? John's? Peter's?
3) fave doctrinal texts? hortatory?
etc., etc., etc.
1) Eh. I tend to think of it as Paul's, as it's usually attributed to him, but no one knows for sure, really.
2) "Best Epistle" is hhhaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrdddd and totally depends on what point, exactly, I'm at in my life. I'm rather fond of Philemon, the Timothys/Timothies (how would you spell that, anyway?), Galatians, both Peters, and James. (I no longer recall if Revelations is technically considered an epistle - I think it's classified as a prophetic work, but, if it is an epistle, it's number one).
3) "The Bible" (anything else might be cool, but is unnecessary), and the gospel of John - so daggum hype (just like he intended)); if you mean from the epistles, though, it'd probably be... oh, huh, I don't know. Philemon, maybe? That's what comes to mind right now.
4) Man, I don't even know. It's been too long. The prophets were hardcore the best, though.
You?
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
1) I lean about 95% to Apollos as the Hebrew author. Organization and vocabulary reminiscent of Paul/Luke, but none of their personal touches; logical progression similar to Romans, but even more firmly rooted in OT lore; does not possess the hallmarks of being from an eyewitness of the Christ. Those three observations, when coupled with the impact Apollos had in Corinth, point me to him as the leading candidate.
2) Ephesians, hands-down. Verses 3 - 14 never cease to blow me away (chapter 1). Chapter 4's "equipping/building" passage is an anthem. And, of course, chapter 6's spiritual warfare content resonates strongly with me -- I may be an aggressive jerk, but I only try to fight bad ideas; not a violent guy, in practice.
Paul's: I Corinthians -- odd that this one is his best, though Ephesians gets the gold star, eh? Hard for me to clarify it all, but I'll try to sum it up: I think in Ephesians I see the "why?" being answered -- "God", while I Cor answers it with "God did x, therefore . . . ." Kind of an is-versus-ought thing.
Peter's: his first. *So* much solid instruction, expressed as foundational givens -- he says so many things plainly that we often miss, to our detriment.
John's: can't pick just one. And I've tried.
3) Doctrine: see above notes, then add Romans.
Hortatory: Hebrews. Hebrews. Heeeee-brews!! To quote a former professor's paraphrase: "What's that therefore there for?"
And so on. :)
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Oh. Yes.
** - Timothies
** - Revelation is prophecy, more than epistle, though both elements are present
** - Ecclesiastic vs original?? I is kunfruzed. What do you mean?
Oh. Yes.
** - Timothies
** - Revelation is prophecy, more than epistle, though both elements are present
** - Ecclesiastic vs original?? I is kunfruzed. What do you mean?
1) Thanks!
2) I thought so, but it's been a while, and I'm rusty. Spending time with two-year-olds and not theologians makes my mind hazy at best.
3) More recently, I've mostly spoken with people who use hortatory as more ecclesiastical works (i.e. "non-Biblical writings made by the church or theologians"), rather than Biblical text (although it's clear, in retrospect, you meant strictly Biblical works, the use I'd more grown up with, but hadn't used in a while), hence my clarification.
I think that Romans is the most solid for more general doctrine, but Ephesians* 2 (specifically 8-9) are pretty much bedrock. It is the hope and faith that I cling to - it's not me, but Grace. If I'm being honest (and kind of terribly common), 1 Corinthians should really be more important than I often vocally give it credit for, due to chapter 13 and how that influences me on a more daily basis than anything else.
*
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Sorting Paul from Paul *does* get tough, my friend! :)
And, yeah, I was just focusing on *the* Book. Gets us in enough squabbles without adding others' (and ours!) opinions!! 'Cause we can't quite NOT add our own opinions. But you know what I'm getting at.
HAHAH~! Yes.
Your villainous secrets: give them to me...
Specifically:
And now, from another thread:
Question of the day: if you could *BOOP!* replace a bad guy with yourself, from a video game, a book, a play, an RPG, a computer game, a television series, or a movie (or different ones from each), who would it be, why, and how would that impact the narrative (if any)?
You keep your favorite features of yourself and/or them while retaining the full knowledge, skills, powers, and abilities of you both; for example, you could, if you so desired, seemlessly replace them with yourself and just take over their organization with no one the wiser - or whatever); "you" are the personality in charge, and though you have free access to their memories, "you" (the person answering) are the "real" person. You retain your meta-information about the whatever it is.
... this is late enough that it'll be tomorrow's question, too... XD
Answer One (part one; part two is pending)
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
I just realized this thread exists and I have the urge to do something...
Dot
Feeling better now.
P.S. Does everybody has his own thread now? Why don't I have my own thread?
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
It depends how bored you are. I myself have several. All just as desolate as the last.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
When I'm bored I create aliases. But I'd not rather start an argument about aliases with the expert here ;-D