Anecdotal Evidence

Thursday, March 21, 2013

_The Cabinet of Wonders_ and the rest of the Kronos Chronicles, by Marie Rutkoski

I bumped into these books because of the the nice cover designs, when volunteering at our elementary's library. Turns out they are set in the Bohemia of an alternate Europe, with Czech speakers and all that. A little steampunk, a little magic, but mainly a great, spunky main character, Petra Kronos, with terrible, terrible problems.

I found the first book enchanting, the second gripping, the third heartbreaking, and I liked how the author lined everything up so that a young teen could, with all the allies she gathers, have a shot at saving the world.

I also enjoyed how the books' villain was motivated; he was simply single-minded in his pursuit of power, and that was more than enough.

But probably the reason I actually sat down and read it was the scholarly and helpful tin spider, Astrophil, who is the main character's pet. He offers sage advice and reads at night while she sleeps.

Great stuff. It's marketed as youth or young adult, but I thought it played well as an adult book series.

Monday, March 04, 2013

Random Tavern Generator

I'm expecting to have some D&D characters hit a city and want to find taverns. Therefore I need some taverns, right? So I turned to the internet, and found a random tavern generator. I just really like it when I think of something I need, and the internet has already provided it, for free.

In this case, I rather liked what the folks who made this decided were the important things to give you about a tavern.... Here's a sample.

from random tavern generator ... http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/dnd/20010223d

Tavern Name: Lonesome Bed

Bartender: Female human, 6th-level sorcerer

Interesting Clientele: Cloaked figure in corner, a bard performing for drinks.

Rumors Overheard: An absentminded wizard has let her rod of wonder fall into the wrong hands. A mirror of opposition has created an evil duplicate of a hero.

Accommodations: Good (a small private room with one bed, some amenities and a covered chamber pot) for 5 sp/day

Today's Menu:

Breakfast: Smoked sausage, Goose eggs, Quail eggs, Stewed prunes, Oatmeal (cost 1gp).

Lunch: Veal sweetbreads, Sharp cheese, Black beans, Peach (cost 8sp).

Supper: Lamb chop, Collard greens, Cabbage, Nut bread, Custard (cost 1gp).

Snack: Deep dwarven blue cheese, Peach, Millet (cost 4sp).

Article about Dan Harmon's Post-Community Stuff Makes Me Want to Watch Community

I've never actually watched _Community_, but the stuff about them firing Dan Harmon as showrunner was interesting, and this article about Dan Harmon's 'Harmontown' show is super interesting.

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/8936669/view/full/dan-harmon-life-community

Saturday, March 02, 2013

Cover for my D&D notebook

I felt like making an old school map for the cover of my notebook.

Thursday, February 28, 2013

Pillowdrome, an ad-hoc game

Scott Simpson shares a game he calls Pillowdrome where you chase someone around an obstacle while balancing a pillow on your head:

http://yourmonkeycalled.com/post/56089253/pillowdrome-extended-family-vacations-with-their

This reminds me of how much fun I've had with my daughter playing our invented game 'Duck Dash', which is tag where you have to hit the other person with a stuffed duck. It's basically tag for adults who don't want to run so very much.