[KB Girl]

You seem to be very consistent Jarric. How long have you been doing CrossFit and running and yoga? 

[Yasha92]

I am interested to do it, partially because I was called up several years ago and had to decline due to a work training and ever since I've wondered what I missed out on. I (perhaps big-headedly) think I would be a good juror to have, interested in getting to the bottom of things and having a fair and unbiased trial. I am not jumping for joy, but I am interested. 

 

That is a bodgey mirror! Glad it's getting the job done  

[Jarric]

14 hours ago, KB Girl said:

You seem to be very consistent Jarric. How long have you been doing CrossFit and running and yoga? 

 

I had to look back at my intro here to work that out, so a while! Apparently I started running in August 2015, decided after 6 weeks that I hated it, and gave it up. Then I think in mid-2016 I signed up to an OCR and had to train for it, so I've probably been running consistently since about then. Crossfit started October 2018, so quite a while even with a bit of a pandemic break. Yoga I've no idea; I kind of do it as a recovery thing or as active rest when it fits in - the daily yoga only started this month because a 30 day challenge sounded like fun.

 

10 hours ago, Yasha92 said:

I am interested to do it, partially because I was called up several years ago and had to decline due to a work training and ever since I've wondered what I missed out on. I (perhaps big-headedly) think I would be a good juror to have, interested in getting to the bottom of things and having a fair and unbiased trial. I am not jumping for joy, but I am interested. 

 

That is a bodgey mirror! Glad it's getting the job done  

 

Yeah, I think that's where I am; interested to try it out, but also a little apprehensive with the unknownness of it all.

 

Thanks! The new mirrors have arrived, so if I can get another day or two out of it I'll be happy!

[Artemis Prime]

Bodge the bodge describes entirely too much of my life philosophy.

[starpuck]

Those pictures paint a lovely seen of debodgery!      Well done!

It was just temp, and it did the thing.   If it worked, it worked.

 

Ahh nice on the prep stuff.    I use docs and also One Note now too, but even still it gets cluttered for me.    And, I haaaaate Roll20 so much.  I am so much more a live person with hastily drawn maps on dry erase boards type.      So the technical set up is always the biggest drag for me.  I know lots of other people who love that though.

 

[Jarric]

7 hours ago, Artemis Prime said:

Bodge the bodge describes entirely too much of my life philosophy.

 

 as long as it does the job

 

6 hours ago, starpuck said:

Those pictures paint a lovely seen of debodgery!      Well done!

It was just temp, and it did the thing.   If it worked, it worked.

 

Ahh nice on the prep stuff.    I use docs and also One Note now too, but even still it gets cluttered for me.    And, I haaaaate Roll20 so much.  I am so much more a live person with hastily drawn maps on dry erase boards type.      So the technical set up is always the biggest drag for me.  I know lots of other people who love that though.

 

 

Yeah, I would rather play in person, but apart from WW the closest player in my game is 70 odd miles away, and the farthest is over 5,000 miles away, which makes in-person games a little tricky. I actually really like catching up with people by video call in general, I just don't like the way Roll20 can turn D&D into a board game. And of course the lack of spontaneity, because you can't just scribble a map as you say.

 

The one good thing is, by the time I've copy typed a stat block into Roll20 I'm pretty confident I understand all of it's abilities!

[Jarric]

Thursday - week 1 day 4

Yesterday was a good day. Went for a run first thing, the first run of the final week of couch to 5k. Probably the first time I've run for 30  minutes since my last race in, November I think? It felt pretty good, and though my hips and knees aren't perfect I'm not doing badly. I did some yoga when I got in.

 

I meant to mention the other day that I've written my running plan for the next 17 weeks. Starting from 9 miles per week, I'll be at 27 miles per week at the end. Which sounds like a lot, but it's adding less than 10% to my mileage each week - the mystical power of compound interest.

 

Anyway, I failed my work goal of getting in at 08:35; I arrived at 08:36 thanks to the knock on effect of getting out too late for my run. Work itself was ok. I've finally be actually called in to jury service for next week, so this week I've been able to clear a load of stuff while I've had no meetings booked and nothing in my diary.

 

In the evening I did some hangboarding, and wow I've got worse at that. Given how well I've been doing at climbing I was quite surprised by that. Otherwise I had a couple of beers, chilled out, and went to bed.

 

Failed the work timings, but hit the calories, studying, teeth brushing, and languages. Ticked off yoga and hangboarding from the weekly list.

[KB Girl]

17 hours ago, Jarric said:

Anyway, I failed my work goal of getting in at 08:35; I arrived at 08:36

Are you joking? that doesn't sound too bad. 

[Jarric]

3 hours ago, KB Girl said:

Are you joking? that doesn't sound too bad. 

 

It's not, but it's still a fail - the goal has to have a cut off somewhere. I chose 08:35 because a) if I walk WW to work I should be there about 08:25, and b) I start work at 08:45 so it gives me time to get in and make a cup of tea before I log on.

[Jarric]

Friday - week 1 day 5

Yesterday was a good day. Crossfit first thing; 8 minutes to climb as high as possible in sets of 1, 2, 3, 4 etc. power cleans and chinups I managed 6 rounds and 3 reps with 60kg (132#) on the power cleans. It was a really fun one.

 

After that we had 100m (110yd) rowing sprints. My best attempt was 17.0 seconds. On the one hand, my PB is 16.9 seconds, and that's not far off. On the other hand, I set that record in October 2019, so it's a bit sad I haven't improved in all that time. Guess I can blame the pandemic break from rowing?

 

Work was ok; working from home and got a load more stuff squared away. Also got an e-mail saying I'll actually have to attend jury service on Monday, so no more catching up on work for me!

 

In the evening I did yoga, made crispy chilli beef udon broth, and went to Tesco for a bit shop - it was a busy day! Then just time for a couple of beers in front of the TV before bed.

 

I failed my work goal; I didn't log on until 08:38, and I didn't get any studying done. Calories were tracked and within budget, teeth and languages were done, and I did yoga again.

 

I also heard about Dungeon 23, which is a challenge to create a megadungeon in 2023 by designing 1 room every day. At the end of the year you'll have 52 dungeon levels each with 7 rooms. I've obviously missed week 1, but I'm going to kick this off from Monday and it should kickstart my drawing (I hope).

[Sovalis]

Dungeon 23 sounds fun! Good job with your movement!

[DarK_RaideR]

On 1/6/2023 at 12:29 AM, KB Girl said:

You seem to be very consistent Jarric.

That he is. Also, I've noticed a distinct lack of his signature "running/working out with a hangover" which I applaud him for.

 

On 1/7/2023 at 10:22 PM, Jarric said:

I also heard about Dungeon 23, which is a challenge to create a megadungeon in 2023 by designing 1 room every day. At the end of the year you'll have 52 dungeon levels each with 7 rooms.

I'm pretty sure it's supposed to be a level per month, so 12 levels with some 30 rooms each by the end of the year. Unless "long and deep" is your core concept, like a well that has a bunch of stuff around the main shaft every dozen or so feet. Most dungeons are usually spread out more horizontally than vertically. Frankly, I think unless you mainly run megadungeons as a DM of a game that's built around the concept, whether it's an OSR dungeoncrawl or a 40K game about exploring a space hulk, you'd be better served doing the Gygax 75 challenge instead. It's much shorter at just five weekly segments total and its purpose is to get you up and running with a custom world/setting/campaign of your own. From what I know of your gaming, you'd get more mileage out of that than from a megadungeon, could fit more games and you're not only flexing your creative muscles better, you're also venturing outside Golarion or the Forgotten Realms. Creating your own world is one of the more fun aspects of DMing and it's easy to get caught up in grand scale projects that make it sound terrifying. This is where the challenge comes in, meant to give you a core concept with good fundamentals and a solid starting area for the game without overstretching yourself. As mentioned, the idea is to get you up and running, then every once in a while you get to revisit and expand your stuff, based on the foundations you originally established and the feedback you have from playing the game thus far.

 

Video for those too lazy to read

 

[Jarric]

19 hours ago, Sovalis said:

Dungeon 23 sounds fun! Good job with your movement!

 

Yeah, I'm looking forward to it! And thank you  

 

10 hours ago, DarK_RaideR said:

That he is. Also, I've noticed a distinct lack of his signature "running/working out with a hangover" which I applaud him for.

 

Ah, but am I hungover less, or running less?

 

Real talk though (alcohol thoughts spoilered):

 

Spoiler

Hangovers get worse as you get older for most people, including the mental side of hangover anxiety/paranoia etc., and I'm not immune to that. I'm also more conscious as I get older that if I drink heavily when I'm stressed or upset, there becomes a point where I end up going overboard and having a horrible night. Or at the very least end up getting morose and not enjoying myself. Having lost one friend to an overdose at the end of 2021, and with my mother being a recovering alcoholic (coming up on 11 years sober and I'm extremely proud of her), I've got some idea of the dangers of using alcohol and drugs to cope with one's life. There but for the grace of God go I.

 

Last year a few things hit me hard, all of which I've discussed here over the year, so there's an element of caution which has more to do with not wanting to go overboard than to do with physical fitness.

 

Not that I'm saying it's not a good thing, and I'm glad I've got a bit of perspective to deal with things in a less destructive way that I had in the past.

 

 

10 hours ago, DarK_RaideR said:

I'm pretty sure it's supposed to be a level per month, so 12 levels with some 30 rooms each by the end of the year. Unless "long and deep" is your core concept, like a well that has a bunch of stuff around the main shaft every dozen or so feet. Most dungeons are usually spread out more horizontally than vertically.

 

Well, it doesn't really matter; you could do 26 levels of 14 rooms, or 1, 364-room level. Or you could make a town 1 building per day. Funnily enough the Gygax 75 challenge recommends that each floor has 1d6+6 rooms, so 7-12 rooms, which is right on the 1 level per week to 1 level per 2 weeks range.

 

It's a good point though; there'd be no harm in mixing it up throughout the year, and having some levels much larger or smaller than others.

 

10 hours ago, DarK_RaideR said:

Frankly, I think unless you mainly run megadungeons as a DM of a game that's built around the concept, whether it's an OSR dungeoncrawl or a 40K game about exploring a space hulk, you'd be better served doing the Gygax 75 challenge instead. It's much shorter at just five weekly segments total and its purpose is to get you up and running with a custom world/setting/campaign of your own. From what I know of your gaming, you'd get more mileage out of that than from a megadungeon, could fit more games and you're not only flexing your creative muscles better, you're also venturing outside Golarion or the Forgotten Realms. Creating your own world is one of the more fun aspects of DMing and it's easy to get caught up in grand scale projects that make it sound terrifying. This is where the challenge comes in, meant to give you a core concept with good fundamentals and a solid starting area for the game without overstretching yourself. As mentioned, the idea is to get you up and running, then every once in a while you get to revisit and expand your stuff, based on the foundations you originally established and the feedback you have from playing the game thus far.

 

Two thoughts. Firstly, thank you, because this challenge sounds great. It would actually be a great thing to run here in the acountabilbudddies threads, with a few people all creating their own campaign simultaneously in time with the 5-week challenge cycle. I'd love to do that, and have people sharing ideas, keeping eachother accountable, and geeking out about TTRPGs. Would you be game for that, if we ran it in a couple of challenges time? (That's assuming your work might be a little more settled by then and you might have more free time?)

 

Open call to anyone else who would be up for a challenge like that too.

 

My other thought is that while Gygax 75 would definitely be more useful for me to create content that I will actually use in a D&D game, I'm not planning to run a homebrew setting at any point in the next few months, possibly the next few years. I've gravitated to Dungeon 23 as a creative writing challenge - an excuse to do a tiny bit of writing and a tiny bit of drawing every day, rather than something that I intend to run or publish. I'm sure I will pull bits out of it to use in future campaigns - no ideas are wasted, they all get recycled eventually - but I think this serves the purpose of getting my into a daily writing/drawing habit better than Gygax 75.

[Jarric]

Weekend 1

Saturday was a good day. Climbing first thing, which is always good, and there were a load of new routes since I'd last been to play with. I flashed a 6B+ as well apparently, which is a very good result for me.

 

In the afternoon I did a bunch of D&D prep (having had 3 weeks to prepare for the game, I obviously left it to the last day  . Got some yoga in, teeth done, and my languages, but no studying. I also hit my calorie goal, which was actually a struggle because I had enough left over from the week that I needed to eat a lot at the weekend.

 

Sunday was a good day. I laid around and chilled out for half the morning, which was really nice. It did mean however that I didn't get out for my run until 11, which was less than ideal as we had D&D at 12. I did get the run done, but I was about 5 minutes late for starting D&D which isn't great for session 1.

 

D&D itself was great. One of the players couldn't make it unfortunately, but I think the others had a great time. Mild spoilers for Waterdeep: Dragon Heist:

 

Spoiler

We started in a tavern, and everyone had a chance to introduce themselves and discuss whether small rocks fell faster than big rocks (a philosophical musing raised by @WhiteGhost's goliath barbarian), before a bar fight broke out that the characters eventually decided to weigh in on. Just as things were going the party's way, a troll burst in through the floor of the inn, followed by a bunch of striges. A troll is much too much of a challenge for 4, level-1 adventurers, but with a bit of help from some NPCs they were able to defeat the creature. In the process WW's bard slightly set fire to a friendly NPC, but everyone survived.

 

The party were then tasked to find a missing person, and after interrogating the quest-giver for a while they set off to the tavern where he was last seen. They got a little information that linked the man who had disappeared to the Zhentarim. It just so happened that @WhiteGhost's goliath knew an NPC with connections to the Zhentarim, and so they headed back to the tavern they started in to set up a meeting with the Zhents.

 

As a side-note, the adventure starts by letting the players choose NPCs that they have a friendly acquaintance with, which is where the Zhent connection came in. I'm so glad that came up, but I also love that if they had chosen different NPCs they might have ended up approaching the problem in a totally different way.

 

In the evening I did a bit of studying (finally!) and my yoga, WW roasted a turkey thigh with loads of veg and stuffing, and we chilled in front of the TV. Languages and teeth were done. I also spent a little time sketching doves for my Pathfinder character's holy symbol. I failed my calories though - I got to 2,828kcal, and I just didn't want to eat any more. I contemplated trying to force something down, but I'd already been snacking in an effort to get to the 3,273kcal I needed for the week, and I just didn't want anything.

 

Week 1 stats

Dailies:

• The muscle: 6/7. I failed to hit my calories on Sunday, meaning I finished the week 455 short at 20,489 (average 2,927 per day). I lost 2lbs last week, which I was kind of expecting after an anomalous 6lb gain the week before. Nonetheless, if I'm losing weight I need to increase my calories, so the target for this week will be 21,504kcal. That's 3,072 per day. I'll be aiming for 2,688 per day, plus a floating buffer of 2,688 over the week.
• The documancer: 4/7. Not ideal, but I'm starting to make progress on this. With less than 2 months in which to write this essay, and a desire to write it in 1, I need to crack on.
• The face: 7/7. Teeth brushing continues to be a habit.
• The translator: 7/7. It's been a token effort at times, but I've studied French and Dutch every day.
• The chonologist: 2/4. Only 4 working days this week, and I was 1 minute over my goal Thursday and 3 minutes over on Friday. If I have to fail a goal this is the way to do it.

 

Weeklies:

• The cartographer: 1/1. Left it until Sunday, but I did get some drawing in.
• The camp-maker: 1/1. The bank holiday on Monday gave me some time to do some cleaning, but nothing since.
• The field-medic: 7/1. The 30-day yoga challenge has seen me smashing this, and on many days I've also done some foam rolling on my hips and shoulders to try and feel a bit better too.
• The second-storey specialist: 1/1. I got my hangboarding done on Thursday. Once per week is plenty.

 

[starpuck]

Wow wow wow.  So much going on here Jarric.   I love the campaign planner thing and that dungeon a week thing is nuts.  I have been struggling so hard to get honest prep in.  I have my ideas, and I am comfy with my homebrew world, but I feel like more organization would up the level for everyone.     I dont think I have the bandwidth to commit to participating, but maybe skulking if that's allowed?

[DarK_RaideR]

13 hours ago, Jarric said:

Real talk though (alcohol thoughts spoilered):

A wise man once said something about alcohol letting you borrow happiness from tomorrow, or something like that, but I can't quite put my finger on the entire quote or who said it...

 

13 hours ago, Jarric said:

It would actually be a great thing to run here in the acountabilbudddies threads, with a few people all creating their own campaign simultaneously in time with the 5-week challenge cycle. I'd love to do that, and have people sharing ideas, keeping eachother accountable, and geeking out about TTRPGs. Would you be game for that, if we ran it in a couple of challenges time? (That's assuming your work might be a little more settled by then and you might have more free time?)

 

Open call to anyone else who would be up for a challenge like that too.

You know, that's actually a great idea. I've tried it a couple of times myself, but it was more of a theoretical process since I didn't have a group to play so nothing kept my drive going. Accountability might be a good replacement, plus I'm 1000% in favour of anything adding more RPG geekiness onto the forums.

 

13 hours ago, Jarric said:

I've gravitated to Dungeon 23 as a creative writing challenge - an excuse to do a tiny bit of writing and a tiny bit of drawing every day

Pretty sure that's kind of the main concept. Low pressure, little bits but at a consistent, daily pace.

[Jarric]

17 hours ago, starpuck said:

Wow wow wow.  So much going on here Jarric.   I love the campaign planner thing and that dungeon a week thing is nuts.  I have been struggling so hard to get honest prep in.  I have my ideas, and I am comfy with my homebrew world, but I feel like more organization would up the level for everyone.     I dont think I have the bandwidth to commit to participating, but maybe skulking if that's allowed?

 

Absolutely skulking is allowed. And if you decide you have some bandwidth whenever we do it, maybe you use the guides to correlate all the things you already know about your homebrew world, rather than creating a new one?

 

6 hours ago, DarK_RaideR said:

A wise man once said something about alcohol letting you borrow happiness from tomorrow, or something like that, but I can't quite put my finger on the entire quote or who said it...

 

it's so true. True for anxiety too; if you drink to avoid social anxiety you seem to get a double hit the following morning.

 

6 hours ago, DarK_RaideR said:

You know, that's actually a great idea. I've tried it a couple of times myself, but it was more of a theoretical process since I didn't have a group to play so nothing kept my drive going. Accountability might be a good replacement, plus I'm 1000% in favour of anything adding more RPG geekiness onto the forums.

 

Excellent! Next challenge kicks off 13th Feb, and the following works 27th March. What works better for you? If we get a date we can try and recruit some more people.

 

6 hours ago, DarK_RaideR said:

Pretty sure that's kind of the main concept. Low pressure, little bits but at a consistent, daily pace.

 

Yeah, that sounds ideal for me.

[Jarric]

Monday - week 2 day 1

Yesterday was a good day. Had to be out early, so I wasn't able to go to the gym. The plan was to run and then do yoga instead. Then I laid in bed a bit longer, and the plan became to just do yoga. Then I stayed in bed some more, and couldn't fit the yoga video from the 30 day challenge, but I did manage a very short video before getting ready and going out.

 

It ended up being quite a chilled day, and I got out early, so I was able to do the yoga when I got home and hit an evening session at the gym.

 

Before all that I decided to treat myself to Five Guys for lunch. It was lovely, but I forgot how massive everything there is! I had a cheeseburger and regular fries, and it cost a bomb and came in at 1,800 calories! That's 3 times what I would usually eat for a meal.

 

Crossfit was deadlifts, build to a heavy 5-10 reps. I managed the full 10 at 130kg (286#), so potentially I should have gone a bit heavier, but I was worried my Five Guys might make a reappearance if I pushed any harder. We then had a cool workout:

 

In 2 minutes: 

 - 50ft sandbag carry

 - 50ft sandbag drag

 - max reps kettlebell clean and press

 

I went with the 75kg (165#) sandbag, though I was done inaide 30 seconds so maybe I should have gone for 100kg (220#). Used a pair of 20kg (44#) kettlebells, and managed 10 reps. Most importantly, I did not vomit.

 

When I got home WW cooked a beautiful feta, spinach and pomegranate filo pie. It was amazing, but at 1,000kcal I definitely blew my calories for the day.

 

When I was done typing up last week's update (whilst watching Lego Masters Australia), I figured that having the laptop on my lap meant I could do a tiny bit of essay writing. I only managed about 10-15 minutes of editing, but it counts for the goal. Then I drew my first room for Dungeon 23, which hits the cartographer goal, did my languages, brushed my teeth and went to bed.

 

3/4 dailies done, 2/4 weeklies 

[sylph]

That Five Guys meal of yours constitutes my entire daily caloric allotment (plus a bit, if I'm cutting).

[KB Girl]

Hooray for no vomiting  (and for heavy deadlifts and kettlebell clean and press, I do like those)

 

10 hours ago, DarK_RaideR said:

adding more RPG geekiness onto the forums

I'd love to participate in some RPG geekiness, but unfortunately won't have time. I'll happily read all about it though! 

[Sovalis]

I *love* Five Guys, but I'm very grateful that the nearest one to me is 200km away. I would probably eat it once a week if it were here. It's taken some work to convince Dave that we can split a small fry when there, but that little bit of restraint helps me feel less like I'm completely losing my grip in the wake of deliciousness. 

 

Super excited for campaign updates, and thanks for reminding me to do game prep! 

[Yasha92]

5 hours ago, Jarric said:

Most importantly, I did not vomit.

 

The true goal lol.

 

Looks like you are kicking butt my friend! 

[Jarric]

15 hours ago, sylph said:

That Five Guys meal of yours constitutes my entire daily caloric allotment (plus a bit, if I'm cutting).

/cdn-cgi/mirage/2bf562a5e4a87487774fcca08f0650dd0ec43d08c297dc0a9b09938143f7974a/1280/cdn-cgi/mirage/2bf562a5e4a87487774fcca08f0650dd0ec43d08c297dc0a9b09938143f7974a/1280/https://media3.giphy.com/media/TejmLnMKgnmPInMQjV/200.gif

 

I know, it's crazy! That was their standard cheeseburger, and regular fries! Glad I didn't go for a large...

 

14 hours ago, KB Girl said:

Hooray for no vomiting  (and for heavy deadlifts and kettlebell clean and press, I do like those)

 

I'd love to participate in some RPG geekiness, but unfortunately won't have time. I'll happily read all about it though! 

 

Yeah, to be fair I like both of those things too. The whole session was really fun, I just need to maybe have less fast food beforehand.

 

13 hours ago, Sovalis said:

I *love* Five Guys, but I'm very grateful that the nearest one to me is 200km away. I would probably eat it once a week if it were here. It's taken some work to convince Dave that we can split a small fry when there, but that little bit of restraint helps me feel less like I'm completely losing my grip in the wake of deliciousness. 

 

Super excited for campaign updates, and thanks for reminding me to do game prep! 

 

Yeah, this reminded me why I don't seek it out more often. Definitely small fries next time, or share them.

 

And you're welcome! That reminds me, I need to do some prep for next weekend's session.

 

12 hours ago, Yasha92 said:

 

The true goal lol.

 

Looks like you are kicking butt my friend! 

 

Indeed it is. And thank you!

[Jarric]

Tuesday - week 2 day 2

Yesterday was a good day. Had time to get up and go for a run and do yoga before I headed out. I finished the last run of couch to 5k! I don't feel totally broken from it, so looking forward to upping the mileage now. Also looking forward to the mornings getting lighter and warmer; running the whole thing with headphones, cap, waterproof jacket, and a head torch was not the most comfortable.

 

I managed to get home early too, which gave me time to spend almost an hour on essay writing. I'm still very much making this one up as I go along, but I've got more faith that it will come together now.

 

My MIL is coming over to stay today, so I also made some time to do some tidying and hoovering, which handily ticks off the camp-maker goal. Did Dungeon 23 in the evening for the drawing goal (though I did a lot more writing than drawing), and teeth and languages were done.

 

The only thing I really failed on again was calories. I got myself a massive bacon, chicken, and avocado sandwich for lunch, which was great, and also went for a big slab of carrot cake. That would have been fine, except I'd forgotten that WW made a chocolate cake at the weekend. Well, at least I definitely won't be under calories this week

 

3/4 dailies, 3/4 weeklies

[starpuck]

On 1/10/2023 at 3:05 AM, DarK_RaideR said:

A wise man once said something about alcohol letting you borrow happiness from tomorrow, or something like that, but I can't quite put my finger on the entire quote or who said it...

I still use this, repeat this, and quote the source.

 

As for Five Guys.   Ugh - they're not my type of burger as I like lean prime meat over 'greasy burger' burgers.   On a recent road trip, we'd just finished a 15 hour drive, and stopped at one for dinner.  We saw the prices, looked at one another, and kept driving.  LOL.   They are also so dang expensive.

 

Trucking along on the other things too.  Nice nice!