Filled

~~Serpentine swords are curved. Curved!~~

~~SYSTEM: Swords of the Serpentine
PLATFORM: Foundry VTT (if I manage to hack it, if not some other solution) and Discord for voice
TIME: Fridays at 19:00 CET (1PM EST, 10AM PST), and for about 3½-4 hours
CAMPAIGN START: September 1st
APPLICATIONS: Let me know if you are interested and we'll take it from there
SAFETY TOOLS: Lines and Veils, X-card and others if desired
DESCRIPTION: Swords of the Serpentine is a Gumshoe Sword and Sorcery system set in and around the city of Eversink. It is "a game of investigation, heroism, sly politics, and bloody savagery, set in a fantasy city rife with skulduggery and death".~~

~~This will be a somewhat short campaign, around 10 or so sessions. I have pretty much no experience with Gumshoe so this can go horribly wrong. Or horriblyfun. We'll begin with the "official" cases and wrap it up with something I manage to conjure. Of course we will begin with a session of character creation and setting talk.~~

cross-posted from: https://beehaw.org/post/7097518

More info at https://paizo.com/starfinderplaytest

According to the document they have up there, SF2E will be 100% compatible with PF2E. That's a huge win for me - I like Starfinder's setting and vibe, and love PF2E's action economy.

Blurb taken from the Kickstarter

People liked the game system powering Shadow of the Demon Lord, but some bounced off the game’s tone. (Evil Dead meets Diablo is not for everyone!) Not long after Demon Lord came out, I began working on a family-friendly version of the original game, and the project became something I tinkered with for a long time, moving farther and farther away from the original game in a move to make something new. Where Demon Lord expected, even celebrated, the deaths of characters, Weird Wizard makes heroes of the characters and their story an epic journey. So while much of the game looks and plays like Shadow of the Demon Lord, there are differences enough to make it its own thing. If you want an early look, check out the quick play.

Wanting to bring more (relevant) factions to the forefront of my game I decided to map out relations between

• Solid bold lines are between the Crew and those they have direct relations to. Blue for positive, red for negative. (Edit: Clarification) The double line to Circle of flame shows the Crew have +2 relations to them, single line for +1 relations.
• Solid thin lines are between the Crew's relations and those they have relations to. Can be to another of the Crew's relations (such as between Circle of Flame and The Hive) or to a more distant faction (two steps separation).
• Dashed lines are relations between factions two steps away from the Crew. Not all relations of these factions two steps separated from the crew are included, only those between factions already on the board.

Kinda enjoyed the result, a bit pleasing to the eye. May fully map out the relations of the factions two steps separated (to factions three steps separated from the crew).

Over on Mastodon we are enjoying ourselves with this #RPGaDay2023 thing. Have spawned a few interesting conversations. So why don't take it over here here as well? And let's do the whole first week (Day 1-6) at once.

1. FIRST RPG played (this year)

2. First RPG GAMEMASTER

3. First RPG BOUGHT (this year)

4. Most RECENT game bought

5. OLDEST game you've played

6. Favourite game you NEVER get to play

So I'm gearing up to once again start something and I've got an idea in my head. But once I put it down into something concise it either becomes bloaty or dry. I mean just the parts below are almost a google docs page, pretty much 2000 characters. And that is even when I removed 2/3 of the situation text as it was rather big picture information. Explicitly writing down the campaign style was something I took Colville's recent game design video, trying it out.

What I really would love feedback on is mainly Situation. Enough/too little information? Is it confusing? Does the information fit with the Campaign Style? And also is Campaign Style something fitting in a campaign ad/synopsis?

Situation

You all are part of the third imperially sponsored caravan into the Aablu, the hot and arid lands east of the Pearl Cities. The first caravan went out eight months ago and was expected to have returned two months ago. Second left four months ago with another destination. Yours have the same destination as the first with the additional task of bringing back news of the first.

Information about Aablu is scarce and unreliable, mostly because traders and inhabitants in the Pearl Cities don’t venture into it and its local people consider themselves under no obligation to divulge information. There are of course tidbits of information: old travellers’ journals, hearsay and sales-talk. You are not headed blind into the Aablu, only mostly.

The caravan itself is the size of a small village, with competent people of various professions who are there for their own reasons. Some want to strike it rich, some are running from something, some are there for the glory and some just want a bit of adventure. Your characters are also competent individuals, filling a role in the caravan and have ambition to make something extra of themselves.

Campaign style

Adventurous daring sword and sorcery.

Adventurous - The very nature of the caravan is an adventure and on it are those with an adventurous spirit. When it calls, your characters are those who step up, those who have a bit extra drive to see what is on the other side of the hill.

Daring - Rewarded are those who boldly go where no one has gone before. Daring plans are to be rewarded and there is always a chance to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.

Sword and Sorcery (from Wikipedia) - A subgenre of fantasy characterized by sword-wielding heroes engaged in exciting and violent adventures. Elements of romance, magic, and the supernatural are also often present. Unlike works of high fantasy, the tales, though dramatic, focus on personal battles rather than world-endangering matters.

You can vote July 14th-23rd. So go and do it.

Winners will be revealed at the award ceremony August 4th at 8PM EDT.

The wheels on my hardtail have been shit. Roughly every two months a spoke have popped. With a tubeless setup that have been a pain. When I had to get a new set of spokes for the front wheel my FLBS guy recommended me rebuilding them. Told me to sit down and replace them one at a time. I have done that now. Finally. The drop that made the glass spill over was a spoke popping when I wad fixing another. And several were stuck in their nipples.

Went from 1.8mm (15g) "approved by manufacturer" round spokes with 12mm aluminium nipples to 2mm (14g) DT Swiss Champion with 14mm brass nipples. I'm starting to enjoy tinkering with wheels...

cross-posted from: https://ttrpg.network/post/105035

This is my latest obsession - bread filled to the brim with seeds and whole grains. A bit like the danish rugbrød and I bet the Germans have something similar too.

Method (1 loaf)

The only things I measure is the water and seeds, the rest I find no use in measuring. Whole flour coarsely ground can have such varying absorption rates depending on age and storage. Going by feel is mandatory.

• 500g water
• Some yeast (or sourdough). Use a quantity that makes the bake fit into your schedule. I used about 8-10g fresh yeast.
• Dissolve yeast into water with your preferred method.
• Add seeds. I used 2dl in total split between 1dl sunflower, 1/2dl flax and 1/2dl psyllium seeds
• Begin adding flour. I used a mix of coarse ground whole rye (1/3) and graham flour (2/3). This is a tricky part to describe as I go by feel. At this point I want a "sloppy batter". It will stiffen as the flour absorbs water. My desired final texture is a "shapeable batter", something that holds a shape for a little while but is very much squishable. Adjust water/flour if needed. Look at this consistency as a reference.
• Let rest until risen to at least half again size (150%), for me it took about 2 hours. Adjust time as needed.
• After it has risen give it a light work, you won't get any gluten development with all those additions.
• Put dough in tin, I prefer to bake in parchment paper to get it out easier. I took the dough directly from the bowl into the tin, just spread it evenly.
• Let rest again, I gave it another 2 hours. You decide. Let the bake fit into your schedule.
• Preheat oven to 250C.
• Put tin in oven, lower to 200C and bake for 30 minutes
• (optional) Remove bread from tin and put on grate. Have nothing to back it up but I feel I get better crust all around, less moisture trapped in tin.
• Heat oven to 225C then turn it off. Let bread rest in cooling oven until room temperature.
• Let bread rest for at least 24 hours
• Devour. This bread has a lot of flavour and is paired really well with strongly flavoured condiments such as gravlax, matjes herring or just butter.

This is my latest obsession - bread filled to the brim with seeds and whole grains. A bit like the danish rugbrød and I bet the Germans have something similar too.

Method (1 loaf)

The only things I measure is the water and seeds, the rest I find no use in measuring. Whole flour coarsely ground can have such varying absorption rates depending on age and storage. Going by feel is mandatory.

• 500g water
• Some yeast (or sourdough). Use a quantity that makes the bake fit into your schedule. I used about 8-10g fresh yeast.
• Dissolve yeast into water with your preferred method.
• Add seeds. I used 2dl in total split between 1dl sunflower, 1/2dl flax and 1/2dl psyllium seeds
• Begin adding flour. I used a mix of coarse ground whole rye (1/3) and graham flour (2/3). This is a tricky part to describe as I go by feel. At this point I want a "sloppy batter". It will stiffen as the flour absorbs water. My desired final texture is a "shapeable batter", something that holds a shape for a little while but is very much squishable. Adjust water/flour if needed. Look at this consistency as a reference.
• Let rest until risen to at least half again size (150%), for me it took about 2 hours. Adjust time as needed.
• After it has risen give it a light work, you won't get any gluten development with all those additions.
• Put dough in tin, I prefer to bake in parchment paper to get it out easier. I took the dough directly from the bowl into the tin, just spread it evenly.
• Let rest again, I gave it another 2 hours. You decide. Let the bake fit into your schedule.
• Preheat oven to 250C.
• Put tin in oven, lower to 200C and bake for 30 minutes
• (optional) Remove bread from tin and put on grate. Have nothing to back it up but I feel I get better crust all around, less moisture trapped in tin.
• Heat oven to 225C then turn it off. Let bread rest in cooling oven until room temperature.
• Let bread rest for at least 24 hours
• Devour. This bread has a lot of flavour and is paired really well with strongly flavoured condiments such as gravlax, matjes herring or just butter.

Just a little idea I had, think it would be fun. Comment your favourite systems and the rest of us will give you recommendations for something that could possibly fit your interests.