madbaker | Reading

The up side is that I have lots of flexibility in my schedule to fit things in. The down side is that doesn't prevent all of time from happening at once. In the next two weeks I have the following items on my schedule--all highly desired and deliberately chosen events:
- Interview for podcast
- Website working session
- Cheese crawl
- Temporally relocated family Thanksgiving dinner
- Friendsgiving dinner (due to previous)
- Classroom visit as a Real Live Author (they were assigned one of my books)
- Replacement of my kitchen recessed ceiling lights (which have been giving me issues for the last decade, but kept falling short of "this is critical)

I also still need to write some music for this month's podcast fiction episode and record it. (Although Audacity has all the functionality needed for multi-track sound recording, I don't do it very often, so it's always a matter of re-learning things.)

darths_and_droids_feed

https://www.darthsanddroids.net/episodes/2703.html

Episode 2703: Hanky-Manky

People have been interested in sports for millennia. People in your campaign world probably will be too. Bring it up in conversations with NPCs.

You can just imagine the hobbits at the Prancing Pony in Bree, having pints and chatting about the hobbit darts championships.

aurilee writes:

Commentary by memnarch (who has not seen the movie)

Oooo, does this mean we're going to get a lightsaber fight in the hangar bay? That could be pretty neat to see, especially if the force field fails for a bit. Though we'll probably end up having Rey just taunt Kylo and fly away in the shuttle, causing Kylo to jump back in his ship that he just exited or something goofy like that. Maybe after a conversation first about whatever Sally and Pete were plotting while everyone was showing up to this session.

While I remember Threepio being the sort of sad pushover in the original movies, it's very amusing to think of him being given the bowcaster and immediately getting a confidence boost because it's such a neat weapon. I mean, would you expect any protocol droid to suddenly turn into a menacing killing machine once they get a gun of any kind? They'd be such a horrible shot!

It's a bit of a shame the GM specified snack or handkerchief though. It would have been very amusing to think that Chewie had been carrying around a porg in one of the bandolier pouches this whole time.

Transcript

https://www.darthsanddroids.net/episodes/2703.html

darths_and_droids_feed

https://www.darthsanddroids.net/episodes/2702.html

Episode 2702: No Time to Die

Some GMs get the idea in their heads that they have this amazing story that they want to tell, and the main thing that PCs end up doing is messing it up. So they end up railroading, or not giving the players agency, or resorting to fiat declarations to push their preferred story ahead of whatever the players actually want to do.

Don't be tempted to do this. As a GM your role is not to write a story. It's to set the scene, and let the players decide what the story will be.

Sometimes they do need a little help to enable them to tell their stories without dying arbitrarily, though.

aurilee writes:

Commentary by memnarch (who has not seen the movie)

Uhhhhhh, okay then! I wonder how much of this was a surprise to movie watchers. I probably shouldn't complain about the sudden twist that saves the main characters but.... why does Hux do this? Was there a grudge of some kind against those three troopers? Something against Pryde running the ship and this is a way of acting out? Did he finally get tired of being thrown around or yelled at while others are thrown around by Kylo? I mean, I'd be tired of that personally, which is why it doesn't quite seem like it'd fit in the movie. On the other hand, it's definitely a twist that feels a little thrown in for it to happen now, so that would fit very well from that perspective.

And really, Wedge being just this good is a testament to how powerful shapeshifters are, especially when they can change into just about anything! And if they can gain the knowledge of their shift target, well..... that just makes them even more dangerous. Hm. I wonder if original Hux is dead now. No reason to keep him alive as long as we've got Wedge, right?

Transcript

https://www.darthsanddroids.net/episodes/2702.html

loup_noir

Today's post brought to you by the letter "B," as in Benedryl.

Thank you, pharmaceutical industry, for an OTC remedy that really works on my allergic reactions. Something(s) bit the heck out of me, and my arm swelled up, turned dark red with some purple blotches, and it ITCHED. This is not the first time this has happened, but even though I've gone through Dr. Google before, I searched again on symptoms and came up with the same depressing answer: don't scratch the hives (nearly impossible) and take Benedryl.

The allergic reaction took me out of play for most of the week. No outside work meant I finished James by Percival Everett. The last time I recall reading either Tom Sawyer or Huckleberry Finn would have been around the early seventies. I remember enjoying them, but it was so long ago that I'd forgotten most of their plots. Everett had a very good interview on Fresh Air some time back, good enough that I stuck the title into the "pick it up from the library if you see it" box. The plot is slow, the characters mostly sketches, and the story didn't find itself until late in the last third. I give it a C. Glad I read it; not glad enough to seek out the author's other books.

Still using "B" as guidance, I watched Boots this week on Netflix and really enjoyed it. I'm number forty-something on my library system's waitlist for the book version. The nineties songs used were the perfect soundtrack for each episode. Great characters with real motivations, protagonists with problems, everyone had a reason to be there. Who knew that the Marine Corps Boot Camp could be both funny and tragic?

Bread is the last "B." It's a race to find things to use up the last of the pears before they rot. Pear-rosemary bread is one of the few desserts that the WBH gets excited about. So, bread, lots of bread.

How's your life going?

darths_and_droids_feed

https://www.darthsanddroids.net/episodes/2701.html

Episode 2701: Cut Through the Heart, Cold and Clear

People in campaign worlds without magic can still talk about magic, and some may even believe it's real. There may be figurative magic—such as in the friends we met along the way—or maybe people are just superstitious.

Or maybe... just maybe... there's really something there that is hidden from most people, and that can be discovered with enough perseverance and luck. You'd probably need to be a group of heroes exploring the world to uncover such a thing.

aurilee writes:

Commentary by memnarch (who has not seen the movie)

Oooo, more clues to that latest campaign. I think collectively, we've got a good handle on the player character side of things. But prophecies, wolves, and deer? Hmmmm. That will need some more puzzling out.

Well, the Force is kind of magic isn't it? I'm still thinking that the heroes' escape will be related to Kylo and Rey somehow. Something needs to keep Jim/Poe from getting himself killed in 2 rounds, and it's not going to be anyone or anything currently in this room.

Transcript

https://www.darthsanddroids.net/episodes/2701.html

hrj

There were a lot of items where I said, "After retirement, I'm going to try doing X." Most of them were things I was already doing, but I wanted to do more regularly or more intensively.

One new items was: I want to learn how to knit socks, which also involves learning how to read knitting instructions.

You see, although I learned how to knit at age 10 and have been knitting regularly since then, I mostly "reverse-engineered" stuff. This includes reverse-engineering how to do cabling and moebius scarves. (I also focused a lot on doing charted color patterns on garments with not much shaping.) But socks--socks need a bit more intentionality.

The first step, over a year ago, was to learn to read knitting instructions, which intersected nicely with making a baby blanket. I found a book of blanket square patterns, so I could do 16 different knitting patterns in one project. Very useful.

Now I'm starting my first pair of socks. And, just to complicate things, I figured I'd try a toe-up pattern, knit both socks at the same time on a circular needle, and do a lace pattern on the uppers and legs. Easy peasy.

I'm not sure that the specific "create the toe" method I followed is the most intuitive (though the reverse-engineering idea I got would probably work best if working on separate needles, not the circular). And there are only a couple places in the process where I found I had the wrong number of stitches and just fudged it with a random decrease. (That hasn't happened since I moved on from the toe to the foot.) I'm not entirely sure that the sizing will be perfect, but hey, they'll be socks. (They may be a smidge large around the foot, but maybe not?)

Anyway, I'm attending an online conference today and making good progress on the socks.

hrj

(I have a large backlog of "things I have read" to post, but I'm doing this one out of order as a did a full review of it.)

Aimée’s Raised for the Sword immerses the reader in the religious wars of 16th century France, when people at all levels of society were split between the majority Catholics and the protestant Huguenots. The story follows three central characters between the courts of France, Navarre, and England as their lives are buffeted by politics and violence. This is something of a slice-of-life tale, where the plot is supplied by the tide of history. The historical details are meticulously accurate, as are the varied depictions of how same-sex romances could find a place in the era and the logistics of long-term gender disguise. The several plot-threads are braided together tightly and resolve in as happy an ending as the times allow. The title, perhaps, implies more swashbuckling than the book delivers. The martial action is more gritty and realistic than picturesquely heroic, as is the depiction of gender politics. This book will appeal to those who want an emphasis on the “historical” side of historical fiction.

(Disclaimer: The author of Raised for the Sword was the French translator for one of my novels. I was provided with an advance review copy at no obligation.)

darths_and_droids_feed

https://www.darthsanddroids.net/episodes/2700.html

Episode 2700: Critical Miss

If you want to throw a curveball at your players, have an NPC propose to one of their characters for some reason.

It might be love. Or it might be any one of a number of other reasons...

Maybe they need a legal marriage to stay in the country. Maybe they're a spy and want to seduce someone working for the king. Maybe they want to cement an agreement between noble families... or crime gangs. Maybe they want to be married to avoid being forcibly wed to the evil Lord. Maybe they want to transfer ill-gotten assets to a spouse so they can't be legally seized. Maybe married couples get privileges not afforded to singles. Maybe the Prophecy specifies that only one married under the sign of the comet will be able to awaken the Lost God.

aurilee writes:

Commentary by memnarch (who has not seen the movie)

So it's someone not in the gaming group. No need to have another movie like Rogue One to have that happen then between gaming sessions. Heck, the comic is finished after this Episode is done as well if I remember right! But that is something to wonder about in another year or two when the end of this Episode gets closer.

And of course now there's the question of what Sally and Pete were plotting in the start of last comic. If it's not "Pete getting married" related, what's that mean for the Episode's story?

Transcript

https://www.darthsanddroids.net/episodes/2700.html

darths_and_droids_feed

https://www.darthsanddroids.net/episodes/2699.html

Episode 2699: Here Comes the Brie

You should never forget the most important thing when you're spending time socialising with friends on a regular basis, such as for gaming.

Snacks!

aurilee writes:

Commentary by memnarch (who has not seen the movie)

Pete's getting married?? But we don't have any more movies that can be turned into wedding scenes at the end! I guess if it's someone not in the gaming group then we wouldn't need a whole nother movie for that. I'll guess it's someone Pete's met as part of the band Sally got most of the group to be a part of; music seems to be one of the in-between session things we've had running in the sequels if I'm not forgetting about anything, so that would fit nicely.

And good thing Pete brought this up now. If the game had started and it came up in the middle, Jim wouldn't have time to re-engage his brain!

Transcript

https://www.darthsanddroids.net/episodes/2699.html

darths_and_droids_feed

https://www.darthsanddroids.net/episodes/2698.html

Episode 2698: The Mask Drops

There are many ways to give your GM a headache:

Make an edgelord, lone wolf character who doesn't want to adventure with the other players' characters.
Kill shopkeepers and steal stuff instead of, you know, buying stuff.
Create a character with a huge, intricate backstory and insist that your GM work a dozen characters from your tragic past into the adventures.
Argue about the "realism" of rules.
Ignore plot hooks for the adventure the GM spent all week planning and go off and farm ferrets.
Attack other players' characters.

Don't give your GM a headache, folks.

aurilee writes:

Commentary by memnarch (who has not seen the movie)

Things are definitely getting weird with stuff teleporting back and forth. Or maybe it's more of a space blender with everything being all mixed up, and Kylo just lacks the imagination to drop himself onto his ship. It can't be that hard with rain before this Episode, berries, and the helmet just now, and Luke doing something like that as well.

The GM definitely has their work cut out for them. Knowing the movie writers so far though, something weird will happen. Maybe something like Kylo's call to lock down the ship scatters most or all of the troopers away from holding the main characters in place, and that gives them a chance to slip away. That'd be rather stupid, but it could fit in with the "nobody knows what's the plot" view. Especially if Kylo tantrums again and threatens the admirals to make them obey the stupid command; there's plenty of room for him to be angry and stupid in order to mess things up.

Transcript

https://www.darthsanddroids.net/episodes/2698.html

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A seething mass of turgid drama.

Reading

That Relaxing Retirement

Episode 2703: Hanky-Manky

Transcript

Episode 2702: No Time to Die

Transcript

(no subject)

Episode 2701: Cut Through the Heart, Cold and Clear

Transcript

Retirement Project: Sock Knitting

Book Review: Raised for the Sword by Aimée

Episode 2700: Critical Miss

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Episode 2699: Here Comes the Brie

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Episode 2698: The Mask Drops

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November 2025

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