October Links

So a few months ago we started participating in Bountiful Baskets. This has spurred an interest in Cooking new things and canning. So here are a few of the awesome links I have come across while searching for recipes and instructions.

1. Pinch My Salt - http://pinchmysalt.com
• I used the tomatillo salsa recipe from this site when I received a Mexican pack with a dozen or so tomatillo's, onions, jalapeno peppers, and garlic. This was awesome. 
2. Streaming Gourmet - http://blog.streaminggourmet.com
• Lots of yummy stuff but this ended up being some really amazing Pumpkin Bread with only a few changes for my own tastes. 
3. Simply Recipies - http://www.simplyrecipes.com
• Another source of Bread inspiration for my bread making marathon. 
4. Homestead/Survivalism - http://homesteadingsurvivalism.myshopify.com/
• This has tons of resources for the person who wants to "simplify" your living. Lots of suggestions on how to re-purpose items, as well as books and CDs with information. And of course a must for any Zombie Apocalypse planning 
5. Smitten Kitten - http://smittenkitchen.com/
1. Last one for now is a great blog with lost of photos for all the recipes and steps.

There were a few more I cam across while canning but these were all the ones I book marked and wanted to make sure I kept. 

August Top Five

 

The top five for august is focused on clothing and accessories. I found several sites that make me a very happy geek.

1. 1.Mod Cloth - http://www.modcloth.com/
• Vintage style clothing and quirky accessories.
2. Steamtropolis - http://www.steamtropolis.com/
• This amazing site offers Steampunk clothes and accessories including shoes.. the shoes are amazing.
3. Corset Story - http://www.corset-story.com
• This site sells basic corsets but also has a line of Steampunk ones as well.
4. SpoonFlower - http://www.spoonflower.com
• This site makes custom fabric from art and images uploaded by users. You can also order fabric created by other users.
5. Fashionably Geek - http://fashionablygeek.com/
• This is a great blog about all things geek wearable. From Cos Play to daily tee shirt links. They cover it all.

July Top Five

This weeks favorite five things this week are as follows.

1. Cards against Humanity - http://www.foxitsoftware.com/downloads/
• A party game for horrible people. This is similar to Apples to Apples but with horrible questions and answer combos. Very funny and horrible. 
2. ShanaLogic - http://www.shanalogic.com/
• Cool Geek Jewlery and Gifts.
3. Wish Wall - http://www.wishwall.me/home
• This is a very addictive site. This is the ultimate wish list. It suggests items based on your previous selections and continues to show you all sorts of amazing things that you might like.
• With Wish you can discover cool new products, share the products you love, and unlock exclusive rewards.
4. Strawburry17 YouTube Channel - http://www.youtube.com/user/Strawburry17
• Cute and interesting channel for music videos and new music.
5. Settlers of Catan (Java) - http://nand.net/jsettlers/
• This is from a while ago, but for people who love Settlers of Catan, this is a place you can play against other and set up private games with friends.

June Top Five

Stealing an idea from someone I admire, I am going to start doing a Fast 5 of the week each Friday. So here it goes.All links will be available on the Geeky Linky Page.

1. Offbeat Empire - http://offbeatempire.com/
• I ran across this website when locating instructions on how to make chocolate D20's and other dice. They offer life tips for those of us marching to a different drummer.  From Steam-punk Wedding ideas, to child raising, and home decor.
2. Unfuckyourhabitat - http://unfuckyourhabitat.tumblr.com/
• This cheeky little blog helps us all remember to do small things to keep our living spaces.... well livable. Daily reminders of simple tasks that can quickly be done to keep you home and life a little more organized.
3. Black Pheonix Alchemy Lab - http://www.blackphoenixalchemylab.com/
• This is an awesome site for those looking for perfume scents that are a different from the usual. They have scents that represent imagry from Lovecraft to Henson and everything inbetween.
• While you are there don't forget to check out thier sister site, http://www.blackphoenixtradingpost.com/, for bath oils, t-shirts and other related items to compliment your perfume oils.
4.  Geek Chic - http://geekchichq.com/
• Custome made furniture for the gamer. While a litte on the costly side of things, this site is amaizing and continues to invent functional furniture for the geek home.
5. Redbubble - http://www.redbubble.com/
• Art and independant designs available as stickers, Tees, and other formats.

Reflection of a former DC

This past week marked the end of my terms as DC. I held the office for 4+ years (Feb 2008 - June 2012). My membership in the CAM mirrors my term in office and it is difficult to think what it will be like not serving as the DC. While I feel that it is incredibly important for members to participate and hold offices or volunteer as assistance, I need to take some time away to let some of my built up frustration wear off. I feel I have developed a love/hate relationship with the CAM (or MES as it is now). I have met many friends and acquaintances over the past 4 years, and developed many wonderful memories. I feel that it is difficult for me to enjoy many of the things that I find great about the organization.

1. World Wide Story
• I am fascinated by the concept of a global dynamic story being told by thousands of players world wide. I find though it difficult to keep up with what is going on and there seems to be a lack of consistent "news" being spread in regards to in game events.
2. Meeting new people
• With the exception of local people my attempts to get involved with the broader game has been difficult due to my own fear and anxiety with talking to and meeting new people.
3. Charity Support
• One of the biggest things I was drawn to was the charity aspect of the organization. But many times it feels that the charity aspect is downplayed and tolerated by many members. It seems that we far too often forget that it is important to give back not just to the org, but the communities we live in.

I find that I want to take some time off from my involvement with the nitty gritty of things, but still feel passionate about the game and supporting its growth.  I hope to spend the time until chronicle reset learning and focusing on developing strong characters for the next story.

The Mighty Claw of Bahumhut (or is it Vecna now?!)

I have been running a side game for some time now of a group of Kobold's trying to avenge the death of their clan(s).  As a DM I decided that for our main campaign everyone had to be available in order to hold game sessions, so this little fun group was formed to play when we were not all available.

The concept started as a "Evil" or "Flipside" campaign for what if we were the "monsters" and how we we go about things. The premise is that a small group of Koblold warriors were out scouting or hunting or generally doing something else and returned to find that their clan had been destroyed by "adventures". (If you have read or run the DND 4.0 starter module, this is the kolbold lair in Keep on the Shadowfell)

The survivors decided to fight back and seek revenge against those that murdered their families. After laying siege on the nearby town, they find out that the adventures have moved on and they decide to follow and track the guilty adventures down. Now, as a group this is an occasional game and much less intense as the main campaign we are running which is the modules starting with the one mentioned above. To avoid running the same campaign twice, I introduced another group of humanoid adventures for the kolbolds to follow. Playing on a stereotype that they are below average intelligence creatures, they easily took the bait.

Because we have players come and go and the party changes from one session to the next, the original clan ran into a couple of kobolds from a nearby clan that had also met a similar fate. These groups decide to band together and seek revenge.Absent players wander off down a side tunnel to meet up with the clan later.

Now, as I mentioned the concept was an "evil" or "flip-side" campaign... so while most players would build characters with that in mind, we had one player decided he was going to be "good" and follow Bahumhut. While traveling convinced the other unaligned Koblods  to follow Bahumhut and call themselves the claws of Bahumhut. Playing up the lack of intelligence concept  they felt that what they were doing was for the "good" and them being part dragon (and Bahumhut is a dragon) this was a reasonable idea.  The following gaming session, the main Bahumhut kobold was not around, so another kobold joined back in the party and with the help of a few undead, convinced the party to follow Vecna instead.

I hope to steer the focus of the Kobolds away from revenge to a much bigger more sinister end.. but I don't have high expectations for the group to cooperate.  

This has been a great experience since it is the first attempt at running a campaign "off the cuff" I rarely plan much ahead of time (usually due to shorte notice on absent players) and only have a rough idea on where the story is going. Each session I take from the actions of players and incorporate some new element for them to deal will. With this last session they made a deal with a wraith to do the bidding of Vecna. With their actions they have created a powerful potential ally. What will happen when the Bahumhut kobold returns? This could create a much more long term villain (and cause PVP) for the group and drive them into focusing on other goals. If they continue to prove themselves to Vecna, this ally can provide them with useful information regarding the location of valuable relics and powerful weapons.

The next generation of gamer...

My 5 year old nephew plays his console games, and even has his own laptop.  Children growing up in the technological age are learning to play with these new toys before they can fully talk and walk. In some cases it helps with learning and developing the skills he will need to function in a technologically based society. I enjoy the next new gadget as much as any technophile, and encouraged his use of a laptop and kid-centric websites. I even passed down a old used Dell Laptop for him to use. I help him learn to solve problems and find clues in console games. With all this technology and the easy access to instant gratification of video games it was a very happy day when my nephew expressed interest in paper and dice games.

Sure, he had no idea what it was, but the images on my latest Dungeon and Dragons purchase made him curious. Sneaking peaks at the monsters and vivid images in the book he wanted to know more. A few times he has been around while I ran my current game, and between that experience and seeing the books it prompted one of the most exciting questions he has ever asked me. "Can I play?"

Of course the basic game is still to complicated for a 5 year old, but that didn't stop me. "Sure, I need to get the game ready for you." I spent the next few weeks searching and looking for suggestions on how to simplify a game designed for 12+ to be easy enough for a 5 year old. With some luck and a few parents who have been gaming their entire lives, I found a few versions to help with developing an idea.

This all leads up to the first game session. Using some simple tools and handing him his own set of dice, that he picked out, we set out to conquer some monsters. The premise was simple, and all the damage and hit was simplified to allow for easy tracking.  Barely able to contain his excitement he actually threw his dice across the room trying to roll them. After completing the challenge he was elated and we will be making some modifications to help with some of the specific restrictions on playing with a 5 year old. The game is still a little to complicated for him, but I believe as time progresses we can introduce the more complex mechanics. Next up an actual dungeon mission. I am looking forward to running his little mini campaign as much as my full one.

Update: I have ran a couple of sessions with my nephew over the past few years. He is 7 now and can do the math that is needed to figure out his attack and damage totals. I think that using miniatures helps him visualize the game since he is distracted easily and with the larger group gets bored easy. Running with a small party has seemed a better environment for him to experience the game. On several occasions I have overheard him talking to neighbor children about DND and he gets super excited about it. One evening I let him and a friends child play with the map grid and mini's to find him telling his own adventure, building the map and rolling dice to fight the dragons. He was very excited to tell us what happened later as well. I feel very fortunate that although my sister (his mom) is not a "gamer", she is supportive and allows me to introduce this into his life.