photo saturday: my gnome boy

Say hello to the character who has had possibly the most iterations created and yet zero hours played (by me anyway.... he's been an NPC though), Quillamina's son Bo (aka Kipper). I've also done the three stages thing before. And then the earlier iteration of his potential final form.

But I'd messed around giving his final form a new face, and then walked it back for the child version after being inspired by last week, when I said "the 3 NPCs who were all children of characters I've played (Pery, Quill and Nightingale)". That was going to be the original DnD Character Colouring Book this week... we might revisit that at a later stage.

But that, obviously, led to me realising that I didn't have the "My Dad died and my Mum is an ice-cube" emo phase. Technically, I don't think that stage completely last until he was 20... I can't remember how long Quill was frozen. But, he had a bit of a time, between losing a leg from the knee down, losing two fingers from his left hand, losing his dad, being brought back from the dead and then having his mum frozen by the Goddess of Winter... I think he's entitled to a few years being a little bit dark and not making eye contact with people.

And yes, he's still missing the leg in the final image, he just got a better prosthetic by then and can wear a boot as normal. I would have used the blade style prosthetic, just because that makes sense for someone who is trying to move at speed (potentially), but Hero Forge refuses to have the pants stop at the top of those so that it doesn't look completely ridiculous. I think I complained about this previously. But it's still true.

Anyway...

I tried a new recipe for this weeks dinners... and, as always, I kinda sorta followed the recipe, and it was... serviceable. I am intending to have another crack at it this week and see whether I can get a better version of this zucchini slice.

No Thursday Night DnD this week... which we knew about. Of course, the December curse reared it's ugly little head, and we can't play at our usual venue next week, plus nobody has said "oh, this" yet... so next week might also be off. If we actually get a game in this December, I will be slightly surprised.

Friday Night DnD was good... another one of those lore dump episodes... but, also, it's good when you're the only character who isn't full of secrets, and everyone else gets their dirty laundry aired. It's also fun playing a high Intelligence, low/average Wisdom character who doesn't really remember to filter what they're saying or asking and sometimes just accidentally hit on the crux of something just because they're running through all of the possible options in their head and, mostly, saying them all out loud.

Anyway.

Fuck motor racing. And double fuck the need for the RAAF F-35A Lightning II fighter jet to basically try and break the sound barrier while flying past my apartment. And triple fuck the need for doing it again tomorrow.

Otherwise, today was fairly standard.

Supermarket. Back here for fucking about. Then running an errand where about half the things were currently unavailable. Fun times.

photo saturday: mysterious lady

This week's DnD Character Colouring Book is what happens when I make a headcanon of an NPC that we haven't met in DM Fluffy's game that is, basically, a Multiverse version of one of the existing PCs in the game.

And that also happened to coincide with Hero Forge dropping a new outfit that is pretty appropriate for the city the NPC is located in.

So we end up with The Dusk Owl.

And knowing now who she is very much takes my character from a "this person/organisation must die/be destroyed" to "well... let's not be hasty" in about eleventy seconds. 

Should she probably be wearing red because of story reasons... yes. Do I care? Not in the least. Also, what's the point of being the boss of an organisation if you can't ignore the uniform.

I think I've said it before, but whoever is currently doing the 3d modelling for the new outfits in Hero Forge is absolutely killing it, and this is no exception. Bits of this, particularly the boots and gloves, will definitely show up on other characters going forward.

I'm still slightly salty about the new posing on the familiars. I like that there are more than one pose for most of them, but at the same time, the poses make literally NO sense. They're basically all turned away from the camera or looking in some weird direction. Urgh.

Anyway.

This week was Tuna Mornay. Pretty good, the spice mix as a little off, but that always settles after a couple of days anyway.

There was no Thursday Night DnD this week because we were down two folks. Likewise next week.

Friday was... a lot.

So, today is the Norwood Christmas Pageant, the bane of my existence for the last... decade give or take. But it requires some juggling around of other things.

Which meant that Friday I went for my walk super early (which was nice), came back, got ready, went out to do my supermarket shopping, came back, unpacked, had breakfast, then went into town for my Chiro appointment.

After Chiro, I had to go back to the Doctor to follow up on the previous appointment and tests and whatever. So, that's gunna be a process for a minute. Urgh. But I'm putting wheels in motion, which is positive.

Then I came home, and went to the library for the second time this week.

And then we had Friday Night DnD.

Where we kicked a Fire Giant's ass... theorised about things... and basically fast travelled to the bring of the next location.

In other Friday night news, we've been talking about What Happens Next. As in, what the next campaign is. And Mr wants to run his first campaign for us. Not his first campaign ever, but he hasn't run one for us yet, so that's exciting.

But Fluffy and I had talked about that campaign at one point, so I already have a character idea reserved for that one.

After that, not only will we probably be in the 2024 5e DnD of it all, with whole new rules and subclasses and whatnot, but Fluffy wants to run an adventure where you essentially make three characters who are the Multiverse versions of each other.

And, as much as I love that idea... I have incredible, severe decision paralysis for that one. Or, rather, I have so many possible paths to go down, I cannot make any one decision.

Because this would be a great reason to use some of the characters I've already made that will never otherwise see the light of day. But I could also create three completely new characters. So, do I go down the 3 races I wouldn't otherwise get to play route (Plasmoid, Dhampir, Fairy) or the 3 subclasses I really want to play but haven't (Wild Magic Barbarian, Soulknife Rogue, Swarmkeeper Ranger)? Do I go with 3 characters who were my backups for other games? The 3 NPCs who were all children of characters I've played (Pery, Quill and Nightingale)? Do I lean into a subclass theme... Grave Cleric, Undead Warlock, Phantom Rogue? Do I pick a support class, a melee class and a magic class? Do I lean into the Planar nature of it all and create/repurpose characters who have a strong planar vibe?

Arrrggghhh.

Too many fucking decisions. 

And also, knowing that I won't need to make any of these decisions concrete for at least... a year and a half... makes it 1000 times worse. I know there will be like half a bazillion possible character trios between now and then. Then, even if I DO make a decision before the 2024 books officially drop, all bets are potentially off because, who knows what new subclasses I'll want to dive into. Also, mix and matching between the 2014 and 2024 rules is... a thing that's potentially going to happen.

Anyway.

So, given that shopping happened yesterday and the parade was taking up space this morning, today was officially cancelled. In so much as Ma didn't come down and we just skipped this week entirely.

Which meant I got to do my own thing this morning. A rarity for a Saturday. Hence why this post is up just after noon.

photo saturday: speedy floof boi

So, today's DnD Character Colouring Book got a partial reveal at the start of the month, but I love the full version too much not to share that too.

This is Rain in the Night, my lack of impulse control Tabaxi monk, who does, in fact, gotta go fast.

As I think I said in the post about the new header, I can't take credit for the base head model. That came from someone on Reddit. I did redo the entire colour scheme though. And then there are also a bunch of newer, better items like the bracers and the ball (which is very much like the one I had envisaged him having based on his trinket) and the staff. Although, I just realised... I think he's supposed to also have a Ring of Protection, but being someone who fights with his fists, I tend to default to him wearing it on a chain around his neck.

I also really love the very real feeling pose I managed to make. Especially the staff.

The problem with these images is that far too often it just makes me want to a) play this specific character again (or for the first time), b) play a character of that race or c) play a character of that class. Right now that's manifesting as a Tabaxi thing. And more specifically right this second as a snow leopard Tabaxi.

But also a little bit that I want to bring my big himbo cat boi back into the world. I'll get over it.

Anyway...

So, just because it's an occasion... rather than it being something that was perfect in any way... completely accidentally, I broke my... "gentleman drought" from later 2019. 

And, yes, "accidentally" sounds like I tripped and fell and went "whoops, a penis", but it was more "idly scrolling the Gentlemen's Apps before bed and about to put the phone down and go to sleep" when somebody messaged me. With no photo. Which also normally would have made me roll over and go to sleep, but he sent photos when asked (+10 bonus points), he was cute (+10 bonus points) and he lives in my suburb about three streets away (+50 bonus points) and he didn't mess around (+100 bonus points).

Which is how I found myself waiting for a gentleman caller at 11:30 pm on a Saturday night for the first time in this house, certainly, and the first time in like five years (because I don't honestly even remember the actual last time at the old house... was it late 2019, was it early 2020, who knows).

And he left around 1 am. Also, didn't immediately block me on the Gentlemen's App by the time he got to to the footpath (+50 bonus points).

Is he possibly a down-low gay/bisexual, in some other kind of relationship, or just a plain old "mostly straight" MWHSWM? Fuck knows. And, honestly, mostly, I don't give a fuck (although, technically, -5 bonus points). I'm also not sure how much I care whether or not he hits me up again (which I guess is a -5 bonus points from my score). It was pleasant, it was unexpected, it happened.

Moving onwards to other things.

I made Chicken Cacciatore, mostly by having looked at a recipe and then... put things in a pot. But not on Sunday night. I wasn't sure I was going to have enough for a whole week's worth, so I made it on Monday night. Turns out I would have had more than enough.

It was good though.

Wednesday, the whole Optus network shat it's pants... but, thankfully that only affected my phone and not my internet. And I didn't even need to call anybody, but there's nothing like knowing that you CAN'T do a thing in order to make you want to DO that thing.

I also heard back from my doctor, which resulted in a phone call on Friday... basically everything is fine, the problem is basically the thing that I thought it was, the other problem I was having cleared up on it's own like it was supposed to, and, honestly, the main problem isn't enough of a problem for me to go any further with it right now.

Also... Fluffy is back from his Big Adventure. And I missed his stupid face. And told him same.

So, Thursday Night DnD was a happening thing. Well, we were down one person, and will be off for the next two weeks because we'll be down two people, but at least we came back together.

It was also one of those games that centres of Other People's Shit, but in a way that includes everyone else. And I got to have one of those..."I mean, if DM Fluffy doesn't go to HERE, then I'll be very disappointed"... [hard cut]... "he fucking went there... the bastard" moments. I loved it.

There was also a minor hiccup on Thursday night because I went to put the aircon on, and the panel opened, went through it's full range of movement and then closed again. And did that several times when I tried to turn it on. I didn't have time to fully solve it, so gave up, when to DnD and came home to look at it.

I was going to just send a maintenance request, but decided to look up the instruction book online. And, wouldn't you know, the instruction for fixing my particular issue was, firstly, clean the air filters (not really dirty, try again) and then, essentially, "flip the switch in the fuse box", which I did. And it started working.

Just in time for the temperature to jump up to 40C on Friday.

Thank goodness.

Friday Night DnD was also our return, obviously. It was one of those "nothing much happens" games, which is also fine, because we were getting our heads back into the game.

Anyway...

Today was basically just the supermarket and me resisting the urge to brain the entirely too disinterested to do a decent job, but also far to interested in reading the labels on the products we bought, idiot checkout operator with a can of beans.

But I made it out of there without doing that... and we didn't really bother doing anything else.

photo saturday: boo

Boo!

Yep... this week was Halloween, a "holiday" I love aesthetically and don't care about at all practically.

But I was deep into redoing a number of DnD Character Colouring Book entries when Hero Forge released their Halloween offering... bat familiars.

So Agent Thirteen got a bit of a do-over. Partly because I realised that he was essentially an early prototype version of my half-orc boy, Dax. Or at least Dax has some Thirteen DNA. As a result, I swapped his background to archaeologist with the thought that sometimes when you go digging around in lost cities or old ruins... maybe something there has opinions. Also, dumping the rogue multiclass.

The bat familiars are cute, but, honestly, overall posing of familiars needs an overhaul. Let me move them around more. And at a minimum, let me flip them horizontally.

But this was more for the vibes than anything else.

Anyway.

[clandestine reference to the fact that I finished the secret project... I mean, I still can't reveal it, but it's definitely finished... and I've very pleased with it/myself.]

Wednesday I had my ultrasound appointment... and, honestly, having to drink that much water and then wait for an appointment... yeah, less fun. But it was mostly painless and over pretty quick. I should hear from my doctor next week I assume, but I'm fairly certain it was all a waste of time and effort.

We're still in the No Fluffy Zone, so no DnD.

Anyway.

Today, after the supermarket, we did the Big W, Target, Kmart loop, mostly for the Looking At Things of it all.

rainbow character template revist

So, it took a little bit, and I may revisit some of them... but everybody got a face update... and I swapped a character out.

And now we have something of a sausage fest. Because there was only one female character in the previous template, but I'm not playing any female characters currently, and my half-orc (blue) had to join all my other loveable idiots.

Also, full disclosure, somebody on Reddit did the base model for the tabaxi (yellow), but I redid the colouring and decals.

What was fascinating is that some of the characters only got minor upgrades/changes... for example Leif (green), but other people became more completely themselves... like Pery (turquoise)... the charming little shit I always knew he was just bubbled up to the surface. Demyan (red) took a couple of goes... the first I leaned into "chiseled verging on gaunt" a little too much. Harland (purple) is... mostly there. I had a couple of goes at him, but he kept coming out the same way, so, you know, that's just his face now. If the smile posing worked like it used to, then a couple of them would be slightly different, but mostly, I'm okay with them all.

The breakdown for all the characters is pretty much the same as it was last time, interestingly, Harland had a somewhat fitting end to his campaign of basically telling the party that he was over it and just wanted to go home and spend a lot of the gold he got during his adventures to buy the fest hall his mother worked in and write a large number of very trashy soft porn/romance novels based on his experiences. Which he did.

But that brings us to Dax (blue)...

• Dax - half orc rogue and cleric of the Raven Queen
  As with many of the characters who have slammed against both the rock and the hard place that is the Thursday DnD Group... Dax became something slightly different than I originally intended. But better for it. Also, I do enjoy that the Thursday Group would understand a lot of my characters better if somebody just asked them the right questions. People keep asking "are we the bad guys"... and the answer is "no... you're not, because you're all bad at it... I do the things that need to be done so that you're not the bad guys". Also Dax is what happens when you hand your DM (Fluffy) a box filled with potentially very sharp things and say "do as you will". On the plus side, he hasn't killed off any family members... yet.