[Jarric]

  2024 Road map

On 1/2/2024 at 5:07 PM, Jarric said:

2024 Road map

 

For the past couple of years, I've been writing my road map at the top of all of my challenges, so that I remember it and refer back to it when I'm setting my goals for the month. At the end of the year I then do a big wrap-up to see how I've progressed, and you can see 2023's wrap up here.

 

I don't really have a big why or a master plan, and I don't have any big overarching goals that I want to complete in 2024. I do have a few areas of my life that I would always like to improve though, and I can handily map those on the D&D stats. After last year's challenges, those stats look like this:

 

Level 20 Wood Elf Ranger

STR: 15  -  CON: 21  -  CHA: 8  -  SAN: 16 -  INT: 17

Alongside each stat I'll have some specific benchmarks, and I might add more as the year goes on. These aren't goals as such, but they are things that I would like to hit and that I can measure progress against.

 

Strength - Exercise

I don't separate STR and DEX as different stats, because it doesn't feel like a useful definition for the kind of stuff I do. STR includes going to my local crossfit-style gym, running, bouldering, taking part in OCRs and any other competitions that I get myself into, and also anything else that might take my fancy during the year like swimming, hiking, who knows?

 

Why am I focusing on this? Because I like being able to do cool stuff, and to me that means lifting heavy, doing gymnastics tricks, or completing the kinds of races that make other people think I'm mad. I also think you can never be too strong, and I want to be mobile and pain-free for a long time to come.

 

Specific benchmarks:

• Man vs Coast - a 25-mile coastal adventure race in the UK
• I'd like to do some kind of strongman competition, if I can find a good one
• I'm looking at Tribal Clash, which seems to be a cool fitness event if I can get a team together
• Climb a font 7A
• Climb a font 6A outside
• Get reliable pistol squats with both legs
• Be able to string together multiple muscle ups (ring and bar)
• Handwalk 12ft (2 mats in my gym)
• Squatmas: 50 reps at 75% bodyweight, unbroken
• Deadliftmas: 50 reps at 100% bodyweight, unbroken
• Squat 1.5 x bodyweight for 5 reps
• Deadlift 2 x bodyweight for 5 reps
• Row 100m in under 16.9 seconds (#oddlyspecific I know - I hit 16.9 in October 2019, and I've equalled it a dozen times but never beaten it)

 

Constitution - Nutrition

This is about the things I put in my body - food, alcohol, and cigarettes being the main ones. I've decided recently that I'm not that fussed about caffeine right now, and whilst I don't want to smoke I'm at a level where I do so rarely and can go months between cigarettes.

 

Why am I focusing on this? Because it's the foundation that everything else is based on. When I eat better and drink less I feel better, I lift stronger, I'm less out of breath, and I'm more alert. Also, I look better - it's vain but I won't apologise for that. I have a more complicated relationship with alcohol, but like food it's all about sensible moderation without needs for excessive restriction.

 

Specific benchmarks:

• Get to <12% body fat (per my home scales), just to see what it's like.

 

Charisma - Creativity

This will probably be primarily focused on drawing, but also on writing D&D content, maybe even picking up my guitar again as I haven't in a while. 

 

Why am I focusing on this?  Because I think being creative is really good for me mentally, and because I think creativity is really worthwhile. In my mind there is something intrinsically valuable in the act of creation, even if it's not something you share or make money from. And because I enjoy it, I feel good seeing some of the stuff I've drawn over the years, or when I pick up the guitar just for fun.

 

Specific benchmarks:

• Draw a whole D&D party for any group I run/am in
• Publish some of my own D&D content online
• Complete Inktober this year
• I have Wednesdays off work, so do something creative every Wednesday at least
• Learn a handful of songs that I could play at an open mic night

 

 

Sanity - self-care

This is about keeping my head screwed on straight, and doing the things that keep me level. That includes small things like brushing my teeth and keeping the house tidy, but might be specific self-care habits like journaling, social things like seeing friends, or big projects on the house.  It's recently occurred to me that reading more for pleasure could also be on this list, or on my INT list, and I'll consider that among my potential future goals.

 

Why am I focusing on this? Because it's been a tough couple of years - including losing a couple of friends and my dad being diagnosed with dementia - and I don't like feeling bad. These are things that I can do to feel better in myself, and feeling good is it's own reward. It also allows me to better support my family, and to face challenges as they come. 

 

Specific benchmarks:

• Go away with friends
• Sort out my office - paint, re-wire, and new carpet
• Sort out the outhouse with a new roof and door, and run power down there
• Get a price to replace the porch

 

Intelligence - learning

This includes studying for work, any side-project academic study that I feel like, learning languages, maybe even skill learning if it doesn't fit under STR.

 

Why am I focusing on this?  I  like to learn new things, I find it interesting and rewarding, and it makes me a better person. It also might help my future employment prospects/earning potential, which isn't a big driver for me but it can't hurt.

 

Specific benchmarks:

• Make good progress on my last big professional accreditation
• Continue learning Dutch and French on Duolingo - I should be on an 800+ day streak by the end of 2024
• Converse in French when I go to France for the Olympics this year
• Learn a little bit of coding

 

Edit - I keep forgetting how to score this, so the percentage required to gain a stat point, based on the number of stat points a goal is worth, is:

• 1 stat point: 75%
• 2 stat points: 50%, 83.3%
• 3 stat points: 37.5%, 62.5%, 87.5%
• 4 stat points: 30%, 50%, 70%, 90%
• 5 stat points: 25%, 41.7%, 58.3%, 75%, 91.7%

 

Last challenge results

On 2/5/2024 at 5:58 PM, Jarric said:

Challenge wrap-up

The decisionist

On 1/2/2024 at 5:07 PM, Jarric said:

The decisionist

 

Track food daily [+1 CON]

Extra credit: Less than 18,000 kcal per week [+1CON]

Week 1: extra credit is 15,750 kcal or less in 6 days 

 

I'm still on the weight loss train, having lost 4lbs from the end of October to mid-December, and then put them back on in the two weeks over Christmas  . To be fair, I'm still 5.5lbs lighter than I was in June. I'm also not too worried about the number on the scale, I'm just looking to lean out a bit before I think about bulking again.

 

18,000 kcal per week is a pretty tough target, but will definitely see some fairly solid weight loss over this challenge if I can achieve it. Even if I miss, I should lose some weight by getting close. I may need to fundamentally change some of my regular meals in order to do this.

Expand  

 

A perfect 34/34 days with calories tracked. I hit my calorie goals for 2 weeks, but not the last 3, so no extra credit. I've still lost 5.6lbs in the past 5 weeks (admittedly I lost 5.2lbs of that in the first 3 weeks, so I do need to dial it back in). I did not fundamentally change any of my meals, and that has made this harder - I might just need to drop an egg from breakfast or something to make this a bit easier.

 

Result: +1 CON

 

The muscle

On 1/2/2024 at 5:07 PM, Jarric said:

The muscle

 

Foam roll my neck and shoulders every day [+2 STR]

 

I've had really tight shoulders for a couple of months. I've also been having quite a bit of wrist pain, which I think might be related. I want to make a good attempt at dealing with my shoulders first, but if that doesn't work I will book in to see a physio about my wrists at the end of this challenge. Please hold me accountable to this.

Expand  

 

I managed 24/34 days of foam rolling, which isn't bad even if it isn't perfect. My wrists are not properly better, so I'm going to book a physio appointment. I'm not booking anything until I've gone for a test run tomorrow and decided if I need to book an appointment for my knee. If I have to choose, the knee is the priority - the wrists sometimes stop me doing chinups, but I can still do pullups, whereas the knee stops me running altogether.

 

Result: +1 STR

 

The face

On 1/2/2024 at 5:07 PM, Jarric said:

The face

 

Brush my teeth, twice daily [+1 SAN]

Extra credit: Stand on one leg whilst brushing [+1 STR]

 

When I'm stressed, or depressed, I stop brushing my teeth. I don't forget, I simply stop doing it. I think it's probably a control thing - when life feels out of control I make choices which are self-destructive because they give me some agency that I don't have over other areas of my life. It's a bit like staying up late at night in revenge for work taking over your day (something that I also do). That's the working theory anyway, it might be a load of nonsense.

 

Anyway, I don't know if I can make myself feel better by deliberately brushing my teeth, but I can at least help my teeth remain affixed to my skull for a little longer, and that's a good thing in its own right.

Expand  

 

This one was good! 33/34 days of brushing, and extra credit on all of those days. It's probably telling that the one day I missed was because I was in a shitty mood, but nonetheless I'll take the win.

 

Result: +2 SAN

 

The cartographer

On 1/2/2024 at 5:07 PM, Jarric said:

The cartographer

 

Draw 4 times per week [+2 CHA]

Extra credit: draw 5+ times per week [+1 CHA]

 

There's no good reason why I can't spend a bit of time doodling most evenings when I'm in. I'm out playing Pathfinder/other RPGs Tuesday nights, I play Baulder's Gate online with friends Thursday night, and sometimes I'll be out on Friday nights. That leaves 4 sensible days to draw, with a possibility of more for the extra credit.

Expand  

 

Well, this dropped away pretty quickly. Per week I managed 4, 1, 4, 2, 1 respectively, for a total of 12/20 for the challenge. I think drawing daily would actually be a better goal, because part of the problem is forgetting as I don't do it every day.

 

Result: +1 CHA

 

The hoardsperson

On 1/2/2024 at 5:07 PM, Jarric said:

The hoardsperson

 

Spend no money [+2 SAN]

 

I'm broke after a December of eating out during the working week and going out for drinks in the weekends, followed by buying a bunch of Christmas presents, not to mention a new fridge freezer, a new washer dryer, and some components for my computer, and booking travel and accommodation for Paris next year. So my goal here is to not spend any money during this 5 week challenge. This doesn't include groceries (but groceries don't include pre-made lunches, fizzy drinks, or alcohol), and doesn't include petrol or regular bills.

 

There should be some good side effects to this goal:

• I'll have to take lunch to work as I can't buy it out, resulting in potentially healthier lunches
• I won't be drinking fizzy drinks every day
• I'll slowly whittle down the amount of junk food in the house, without buying more

 

I don't actually expect I'll hit every single day with this goal, but I intend to get as close as possible.

Expand  

 

I hit 20/34 here, which isn't too bad when I consider this was a bit of a stretch goal. On the plus side, I think I took food to work every day, and that really supported my calorie goal. We also wasted less fruit and veg as I was taking that when I didn't have a prepared meal to take with me. And fizzy drinks were cut down, though I slipped off track with this as the challenge went on.

 

On the negative, I'm even more skint now. I found out I'm being underpaid for a few months, as apparently I haven't paid enough tax this year, which is bloody annoying. It's not a major problem, but I'm really trying not to dip into my savings and that's tough. I think this challenge will stay on the radar for the foreseeable.

 

Score: +1 SAN

 

Other stuff

I also had some other things I was looking at, that weren't really goals 

• I'll be subbing squats for front squats this challenge, as I try to train myself out of my current squatmorning habit. - Because of the way the programming at my gym works, I did a lot of box squats, and almost no front squats
• I'll also be working on ab work, which should help with stability in the squats and improve my pistol squats (and probably, to be fair, be good for everything else too) - I did this for a couple of weeks, but going to hold off now until I'm happy with my knee just in case it's related
• By the end of this challenge (maybe the end of week 1) I want to have written out all of the races I'm considering for this year and narrowed down ones that are actually likely - I did do this! I've only booked one race, but I do at least have a sensible list of things I may do to choose from.

 

Wrap-up wrap-up

Overall I think this was a fairly successful challenge. I also had a bit of an epiphany the other day. A lot of us talk about the fact that we start a challenge with all of the hype, and then drop off as the weeks go on, before getting all hyped again for the next 5-week challenge. My epiphany was: actually, that's probably fine. If I give 110% in weeks 1 and 2, 80% in weeks 3 and 4, and 50% in week 5, I've still put an average of 86% effort towards my goals. And all goals are going to be a bit like that - some weeks you have the time and energy to do them to the fullest, and some times you just have to clock in the bare minimum. I think that motivation might be the same as time and energy; rather than worrying about being perfect for the whole challenge I'm just going to try to ride the wave as best I can when I can.

 

Next challenge expect a lot of the same goals, and a couple of new/tweaked bits for good measure.

 

ETA: Those stat increases dinged me to level 21! Time to start investigating prestige classes...

 

 

Jarric embraces brevity

 

One of my, well, challenges, with forum challenges is that I get hung up on big, long updates, and then don't find time to write them up. To combat that, this time I'm going to try to keep every daily update to no more than 100 words. If I need to fill that out, I'll just have to up my gif game. Afterall, they do say that a gif is worth a thousand words. Yeah, I know no-one actually says that...

 

This post won't be in the least bit brief, but let's get into the goals quickly at least! Here's the party that will be adventuring with me this time round:

 

The muscle

 

 

In week 5 of the last challenge I was out for a run, and something went in my knee. Since then I haven't been able to run - it's not a 'I probably should be resting this' kind of pain, it's a 'this hurts too much I have to stop now' kind of pain. Had a physio appointment this week and he reckons it's torn cartilage,  with an expected recovery within 6 weeks. That lines up just too perfectly with this challenge cycle, so I'm optimistic that I'll be able to get back to running training after that.

 

In the meantime I have some rehab exercises for my knee, and I'm also supposed to apply heat to aid blood flow as and when I can, and cycle for blood flow as well.

 

Goal: do my kneehab™ exercises every day [+2 STR]

Extra credit: apply heat daily, cycle 4 times per week [+1 STR]

 

The decisionist

 

I'm still looking to cut weight, with a goal of hitting 11 stone 8lbs (162lbs, or 73.5kg) by the end of this challenge for the Weight Loss PVP, and then probably continuing on for another 8-12 weeks to hit 11 stone (154lbs, or 69.9kg) before I switch to maintenance. Really I want to see what I look like at <12% body fat (if my home scales will permit such a number!). 

 

I give myself a weekly calorie target, then divide it by 8 to give myself 7 daily targets plus a weekly 'buffer' to float across the days as needed. If you hear me talking about using calories from my buffer for a special event or something like that, this is what I'm talking about.

 

Goal: Track food daily [+1 CON]

Extra credit: Less than 18,000 kcal per week [+1 CON]

 

The cartographer

 

I enjoy drawing, and the more I do it the more I enjoy it. Last challenge my goal was to draw 4 times per week, and I found that doing that I fell out of the habit and then kept forgetting to do it. So now the goal is to draw daily, even if it's a tiny little sketch in a notebook somewhere.

 

Things I could draw include some High Rollers fan art (I'm really getting into the new season and am already working on a complicated piece - check out High Rollers D&D if you're into D&D streams and want to get in whilst there's only 10 episodes to catch up on!). I have also been meaning to do my own drawings of the adventuring party I use for these challenges. And finally my in-person TTRPG group are starting a Pathfinder adventure path called Abomination Vaults in a few weeks, although I'm not sure if I'll get introduced to all of the characters early enough to draw them all this challenge cycle, I can at least draw mine. It also doesn't have to be character drawing, I've got a great book on animal drawing that I should really pick up again, and I can jump on whatever else takes my fancy.

 

Goal: Draw every day [+2 CHA]

Extra credit: Share 1+ pictures here every week [+1 CHA]

 

The translator

 

I'm still working on studying both Dutch and French, the former because it's interesting and feels like it's going well, and the latter because I'm going to Paris this year and I'd love to be able to use it well while I'm there. I've changed the scoring slightly on this challenge, to try and get me doing both languages every day but in a slightly different way. It might also get me higher on those pesky leader boards - I really want to win a Duolingo Diamond League one of these days!

 

Goal: Earn my early bird chest and night owl chest every day (i.e. complete at least one lesson before midday, and at least one lesson between 6pm and midnight) [+2 INT]

 

The hoardsperson and the camp maker

 

 

This is a bit of a mashup, so bear with me. The main goal here is to spend no money. I'm fairly skint at the moment after Christmas and a few big purchases last year, and I'm also being underpaid a little bit right now because apparently my company didn't take enough tax for the past few months. Spending no money doesn't include groceries, fuel, or other necessities, it's really about discretionary spending.

 

It's going to be almost impossible to spend nothing for 5 weeks, so to make up some points I'm also going to add a focus: cleaning and tidying my house. Maybe I'll find some stuff I can avoid buying, or get round to selling stuff, but mostly I just wanted to do this this challenge and this seemed like a way to fit it in. In particular I want to get in a cleaning session on Wednesdays, as I'm a filthy part-timer and don't work Wednesdays. I have a rolling table for what to clean, so I'll get a point for rolling the dice (a D14 annoyingly, unless I reconfigure it to a D12+D3 table) and doing whatever the dice say to do).

 

Goal: Spend no money every day, clean regularly, for a total of 35 points this challenge (1/day) [+2 SAN]

Extra Credit: As above, but a total of 42 points (no spending any day, plus weekly cleaning) - change [+2 SAN] above to [+3 SAN]

 

The face

 

Last challenge I did really well at cleaning my teeth every day, I think because I made a rule that I had to stand on one leg whilst I did it. Brains are weird, but if it works then why not?

 

Goal: brush teeth twice daily, whilst standing on one leg [+1 SAN]

 

Celebrations

There's also a couple of extra things happening around this time of year, which I thought I would mention. My 8-year Nerdiversary has just been (I posted my first ever NF challenge on 5th February 2016, which seems fucking wild). And my birthday is Sunday at the end of week 3 - still haven't figured out what, if anything, I want to do to celebrate that. Celebrations suggestions for either of these events are very much welcome. 

 

Let's do this!

 

[Artemis Prime]

Sorry about the knee, but glad you have a path forward with it. Expect to be pestered about keeping up with kneehab!

[Jarric]

1 hour ago, Artemis Prime said:

Sorry about the knee, but glad you have a path forward with it. Expect to be pestered about keeping up with kneehab!

 

Please pester away! I want to take this seriously and get back running ASAP.

 

Currently sitting with a hot water bottle on my knee  

[Sovalis]

Super glad to see you, Jarric! Be good to that knee and Happy Nerdaversary!! 🥳🎉

[sylph]

Here for this

[Jarric]

2 hours ago, Sovalis said:

Super glad to see you, Jarric! Be good to that knee and Happy Nerdaversary!! 🥳🎉

 

Thank you, I shall try my very best to treat it with care.

 

2 hours ago, sylph said:

Here for this

 

Good to have you!

 

[Sea-to-sky]

I love your points scoring system. It makes so much sense to me 😄. 
might have to add something similar to my own annual goals eventually.

 

the man v coast run looks amazing and as thats my neck of the woods i can say that route is going to be amazing. Will be worth it for some of the views alone. 
 

sorry about the leg. That sucks but i hope the physiotherapy sorts it out for you. 
 

happy nerdaversary/bday. Excellent combo by the way 

 

[Ranger Hal]

6 hours ago, Jarric said:

In particular I want to get in a cleaning session on Wednesdays, as I'm a filthy part-timer and don't work Wednesdays. I have a rolling table for what to clean, so I'll get a point for rolling the dice (a D14 annoyingly, unless I reconfigure it to a D12+D3 table) and doing whatever the dice say to do).

Whoa, this sounds really cool! How does the rolling table work? I definitely need to clean more, but if I was going to implement this system, I'd need to pick up some dice. I'm not sure I even have any D6s. I haven't really ever needed dice, so I never bought any, even though I kind of want some. But if I can use them to get cleaning done...

[Artemis Prime]

28 minutes ago, Ranger Hal said:

haven't really ever needed dice, so I never bought any, even though I kind of want some. But if I can use them to get cleaning done...

First off, any dice junkie will tell you it's not about need. 😆

But also, I really enjoy rolling dice to make myself do things. Usually I don't roll for a task but a duration. Clean for 1d20 minutes. If I roll really low, I either take the easy out, or add a d12 to the roll. Finish the d12 minutes and want to do more? Roll a d10. Etc. Etc.

[Laghail]

7 hours ago, Jarric said:

In week 5 of the last challenge I was out for a run, and something went in my knee. Since then I haven't been able to run - it's not a 'I probably should be resting this' kind of pain, it's a 'this hurts too much I have to stop now' kind of pain. Had a physio appointment this week and he reckons it's torn cartilage,  with an expected recovery within 6 weeks. That lines up just too perfectly with this challenge cycle, so I'm optimistic that I'll be able to get back to running training after that.

This sucks. No experience with torn cartilage personally; do salt baths help?

 

7 hours ago, Jarric said:

 

 

Is this your work?? gorgeous.

 

7 hours ago, Jarric said:

Things I could draw include some High Rollers fan art (I'm really getting into the new season and am already working on a complicated piece - check out High Rollers D&D if you're into D&D streams and want to get in whilst there's only 10 episodes to catch up on!). I have also been meaning to do my own drawings of the adventuring party I use for these challenges. And finally my in-person TTRPG group are starting a Pathfinder adventure path called Abomination Vaults in a few weeks, although I'm not sure if I'll get introduced to all of the characters early enough to draw them all this challenge cycle, I can at least draw mine. It also doesn't have to be character drawing, I've got a great book on animal drawing that I should really pick up again, and I can jump on whatever else takes my fancy.

 

I need deets on your pathfinder character. And I need you to tell me that the computer version of Pathfinder 2 is bad and I'm a good person for not liking the story.

 

7 hours ago, Jarric said:

I'm still working on studying both Dutch and French, the former because it's interesting and feels like it's going well, and the latter because I'm going to Paris this year and I'd love to be able to use it well while I'm there. I've changed the scoring slightly on this challenge, to try and get me doing both languages every day but in a slightly different way. It might also get me higher on those pesky leader boards - I really want to win a Duolingo Diamond League one of these days!

 

How far apart do you split your different languages study time? And I feeeeel you on wanting to win Diamond league, I want that achievement so badly!

 

7 hours ago, Jarric said:

Celebrations

There's also a couple of extra things happening around this time of year, which I thought I would mention. My 8-year Nerdiversary has just been (I posted my first ever NF challenge on 5th February 2016, which seems fucking wild). And my birthday is Sunday at the end of week 3 - still haven't figured out what, if anything, I want to do to celebrate that. Celebrations suggestions for either of these events are very much welcome. 

 

Celebration idea brainstorm: 

 

A. Get a tattoo of your guild logo on your ankle. The ranger green circle would look great, it doesn't accidentally signal a second meaning (the warrior logo can be read as lesbian pride 💋) and would be fairly inexpensive to get it mono color green as 5cm circle with the bow and sword left as plain skin, or three color with the bow and sword inked in white with a thin black outline separating/defining the green.

 

B. Do another one of your ghastly mud runs or masochist pain jogs through electrified wire that you rangers are always on about. It seems to give you people joy and only harms yourself with all the shocking/burning/drowning etc, so, I suppose I support it.

 

C. Buy an audiobook of French poetry and work on memorizing/pronouncing while you run. When you strategically deploy this poetry on a date, first extricate yourself from the pile of panties that were flung your way, then remember to thank me for my great ideas. 

[Ranger Hal]

2 hours ago, Artemis Prime said:

First off, any dice junkie will tell you it's not about need. 😆

Oh, I know, there's a part of me that wants all the shiny rocks! But it's balanced by not wanting to gather too much stuff when I live in a rather small house and have a bit of a problem getting rid of things that I might want to use again someday. It's easier if I try to limit the new things I bring in.

[Sea-to-sky]

11 hours ago, Ranger Hal said:

there's a part of me that wants all the shiny rocks!

Ah, the eternal struggle. 

[Jarric]

18 hours ago, Sea-to-sky said:

I love your points scoring system. It makes so much sense to me 😄. 
might have to add something similar to my own annual goals eventually.

 

the man v coast run looks amazing and as thats my neck of the woods i can say that route is going to be amazing. Will be worth it for some of the views alone. 
 

sorry about the leg. That sucks but i hope the physiotherapy sorts it out for you. 
 

happy nerdaversary/bday. Excellent combo by the way 

 

 

Thank you, I've been tweaking it for years but in general it seems to work for me. Happy to explain further if you want ideas for that kind of thing in future.

 

So you're down in the west country then? Beautiful part of the world. I've done a lot of trip in and around Dartmoor, but Man v Coast will be the deepest into the south west I've ever been.

 

16 hours ago, Ranger Hal said:

Whoa, this sounds really cool! How does the rolling table work? I definitely need to clean more, but if I was going to implement this system, I'd need to pick up some dice. I'm not sure I even have any D6s. I haven't really ever needed dice, so I never bought any, even though I kind of want some. But if I can use them to get cleaning done...

 

I basically came up with a list of areas I could clean - living room floor, living room table, kitchen floor, kitchen worktops, hob etc. That came to 14 things, so I just numbered them, with the idea that I'd roll a 14-sided dice and whatever job comes up I'll do that one.

 

I've now refined it a table numbered 2-15, and I determine the chore by rolling a d12+d3. Because of the way adding dice together works, the probabilities of the middle numbers are higher than the numbers at the extremes. The jobs that need doing least often I have assigned to 2 and 15 (1 in 36 chance of rolling, or 2.78%), then the next jobs to 3 and 14 (1 in 18 chance of rolling, or 5.56%). All other results have an equal chance of being rolled (1 in 12, or 8.33%).

 

If you don't have dice you can just ask google to roll for you or use an online dice roller (good for weird numbers like the d14), but it is more fun with physical dice...

 

15 hours ago, Artemis Prime said:

First off, any dice junkie will tell you it's not about need. 😆

But also, I really enjoy rolling dice to make myself do things. Usually I don't roll for a task but a duration. Clean for 1d20 minutes. If I roll really low, I either take the easy out, or add a d12 to the roll. Finish the d12 minutes and want to do more? Roll a d10. Etc. Etc.

 

OO, that's an interesting system; I might add that once I've trialled what I've got. Though maybe I'll roll 4d6 rather than 1d20, to give a range of 20-24 with a higher likelihood of a middling roll. Or even 2d12, my d12s don't see enough use...

 

15 hours ago, Laghail said:

This sucks. No experience with torn cartilage personally; do salt baths help?

 

Well I've been advised to apply heat to improve bloodflow, so a warm bath will help. I suspect the salts might not make much difference, but they would make the bath nicer, so I might give that a go anyway, good shout.

 

15 hours ago, Laghail said:

Is this your work?? gorgeous.

 

No - I wish! I don't actually know who the artist is off hand. The character is Donaar Blit'zen from Acquisitions Incorporated: The C Team; I was just googling art for that character and it came up.

 

15 hours ago, Laghail said:

I need deets on your pathfinder character. And I need you to tell me that the computer version of Pathfinder 2 is bad and I'm a good person for not liking the story.

 

I have to go out in a second, will reply to this separately either later today or tomorrow (because I want to give the full explanation!). I've not played any of the Pathfinder computer games, so I can't really comment; which game was it?

 

15 hours ago, Laghail said:

How far apart do you split your different languages study time? And I feeeeel you on wanting to win Diamond league, I want that achievement so badly!

 

I usually do one in the morning and one in the evening (assuming that I do both in the same day). I do a lot of ancillary stuff for French though (my phone is set to French so I get French-language news stories, and I listen to French podcasts), and occasionally I listen to Dutch radio, so sometimes I'm going straight from one to another. I do sometimes find I'm reaching for a word in one language and end up pulling the word in the other one by mistake!

 

15 hours ago, Laghail said:

Celebration idea brainstorm: 

 

A. Get a tattoo of your guild logo on your ankle. The ranger green circle would look great, it doesn't accidentally signal a second meaning (the warrior logo can be read as lesbian pride 💋) and would be fairly inexpensive to get it mono color green as 5cm circle with the bow and sword left as plain skin, or three color with the bow and sword inked in white with a thin black outline separating/defining the green.

 

B. Do another one of your ghastly mud runs or masochist pain jogs through electrified wire that you rangers are always on about. It seems to give you people joy and only harms yourself with all the shocking/burning/drowning etc, so, I suppose I support it.

 

C. Buy an audiobook of French poetry and work on memorizing/pronouncing while you run. When you strategically deploy this poetry on a date, first extricate yourself from the pile of panties that were flung your way, then remember to thank me for my great ideas. 

 

Oo, A is fun. That might be more of a 10-year Nerdiversary thing (and it would be my first tattoo), but I'll let that idea percolate).  I'll definitely do B (and you should too - just try a few OCRs and I'm sure you'll love them  ). I'm not sure how my fiancée would feel about my being buried in a pile of panties  , but actually a French audiobook is a great idea. Would make a good challenge reward...

 

13 hours ago, Ranger Hal said:

Oh, I know, there's a part of me that wants all the shiny rocks! But it's balanced by not wanting to gather too much stuff when I live in a rather small house and have a bit of a problem getting rid of things that I might want to use again someday. It's easier if I try to limit the new things I bring in.

 

Well, just one set of shiny math rocks doesn't take up too much space... (Note: it'll never stay at just one)

 

2 hours ago, Sea-to-sky said:

Ah, the eternal struggle. 

 

I lost that struggle a long time ago. I'm now at the stage of desperately avoiding buying gemstone dice, because they're mega bucks.

[Ranger Hal]

23 minutes ago, Jarric said:

If you don't have dice you can just ask google to roll for you or use an online dice roller (good for weird numbers like the d14), but it is more fun with physical dice...

Online dice roller? No. Just no. Especially for something already not fun like chores.

 

25 minutes ago, Jarric said:

Well, just one set of shiny math rocks doesn't take up too much space... (Note: it'll never stay at just one)

I was going to say I can be pretty stubborn and could totally see myself just getting one set, but I think I'll modify that. I can probably stick to one set unless I actually end up playing DnD sometime. Then I could see it going up to 2-3 sets. I think I'll see if I can find some nice math rocks at comic con in a few weeks.

[Jarric]

14 minutes ago, Ranger Hal said:

Online dice roller? No. Just no. Especially for something already not fun like chores.

 

I was going to say I can be pretty stubborn and could totally see myself just getting one set, but I think I'll modify that. I can probably stick to one set unless I actually end up playing DnD sometime. Then I could see it going up to 2-3 sets. I think I'll see if I can find some nice math rocks at comic con in a few weeks.

 

Yeah, for me it ends up being one set per character, so I guess it wouldn't end up being a ton if you're not actually playing D&D right now.

[Jarric]

Ok, as requested by @Laghail , here's some info in the Pathfinder campaing we're going to be starting at the end of the month, and my initial character thoughts.

 

This is a Pathfinder 2e adventure called Abomination Vaults, which is a megadungeon campaign that's supposed to be highly lethal. We're each creating two characters given the low life expectancy of our first ones. All of this might change at session zero, but so far I have:

 

Human Inventor Archer

(inventor is the Pathfinder equivalent of D&D's artificer, but relies solely on mechanical gadgets rather than being a re-skinned spellcaster.)

Gruff and brooding, he's secretly the son of a noble family who fell out with his parents and ran away from home. He now lives in the village of Otari, where he works as a tinker fixing the local lumber mill's equipment and doing odd mechanic jobs around town. In his spare time he works on his gadgets, including his highly-modified composite longbow, which will be his main weapon.

 

I'm very much theming him around Green Arrow, so gadgets will take the form of trick arrows (grenade arrows, the infamous boxing glove arrow etc.). Physically if you picture Stephen Amell in the Arrow TV series you won't go far wrong.

 

Orc Swashbuckler with Rogue Multiclass

(Swashbuckler and rogue are separate classes in Pathfinder 2e)

A young orc who does odd jobs around town, but mostly likes to spend his timing goofing off in the surrounding wilderness. He comes back with all sorts of tall tales about the great beasts that he's seen and escaped from, most of which people assume are just a kid making stuff up. And, to be fair, he's been know to wildly exaggerate at the best of times.

 

He's as tall as any orc, but fresh-faced and skinny, giving him a slightly lanky and awkward look. Mechanically the swashbucker relies on being in a state of 'panache', which this character gains by tripping/grappling/shoving/disarming opponents. I picture him as a high-flying, rapier-wielding swashbuckler, who leaps from high places, swings across the room, dances round his opponents, and uses the environment to his advantage.

[Sea-to-sky]

1 hour ago, Jarric said:

Thank you, I've been tweaking it for years but in general it seems to work for me. Happy to explain further if you want ideas for that kind of thing in future.

I get The skill sectioning and what things go where, but how do you decide whats worth what in points? 

 

1 hour ago, Jarric said:

So you're down in the west country then? Beautiful part of the world. I've done a lot of trip in and around Dartmoor, but Man v Coast will be the deepest into the south west I've ever been.

Mounts bay to the hayle estuary is beautiful country. It gets steep into the hills and the views are to die for, you can see all the way to the lizard peninsular on a good day. Not 100% what the route is, but hiking round there is stunning on a clear day. In the height of the summer it should be pretty dry underfoot (barring random streams and boggy bits). Was reading about the arc of attrition, which happens all along the cornish coast . Do not know how they do such a huge chunk of it in the dark and at a time of year the paths are like quagmires. 

[deftona]

Hey! Following as always

[Jarric]

22 hours ago, Sea-to-sky said:

I get The skill sectioning and what things go where, but how do you decide whats worth what in points? 

 

tl;dr I try and have about 10 stat points available per challenge, and then judge each one based on difficulty and importance.

 

Long version: So my original system was using the Nerd Fitness character creator (you don't actually need it, but it's here if you haven't seen it before: https://www.nerdfitness.com/create-your-character/ ). With that system, you level up every 100 XP you earn, so I set my challenges up so that each challenge had a total of around 50XP, meaning that I would level up at most once every two months. (I also have life goals there that earn XP separately, but that's not relevant to the stat system.)

 

Now that I'm using the stat points, I've reverse engineered it so that each stat point is worth 5XP; effectively I level up every 20 stat points. Each challenge I aim to have about 10 stat points available (though I'd rately expect to earn all 10, and if I have fewer goals than normal there might be fewer points on offer). 

 

In terms of what each goal is worth, they tend to be 1-3 stat points. More important goals are worth more points, as an incentive to prioritise them. Tougher goals also tend to get more points, both because it makes me work harder on them, and because it's more likely to yeild a reward on a partial success. Something worth only a single stat point should be a thing that I expect to get >90% completion on, and that I'm really just tracking through the challenge as the accountability will ensure I do it.

 

22 hours ago, Sea-to-sky said:

Mounts bay to the hayle estuary is beautiful country. It gets steep into the hills and the views are to die for, you can see all the way to the lizard peninsular on a good day. Not 100% what the route is, but hiking round there is stunning on a clear day. In the height of the summer it should be pretty dry underfoot (barring random streams and boggy bits). Was reading about the arc of attrition, which happens all along the cornish coast . Do not know how they do such a huge chunk of it in the dark and at a time of year the paths are like quagmires. 

 

Yeah, I'm really hoping we get the weather given that it's the first weekend in July - if we do it sounds like it'll be amazing.

 

I've just looked up the Arc of Attrition. Looking at that distance, and the time of year, that sounds like madness. And not even the kind of madness that I enjoy doing  With 20 miles between checkpoints it could actually be pretty dangerous if you don't know what you're doing. 

 

 

4 hours ago, deftona said:

Hey! Following as always

 

Heya! Good to have you, as always

 

[DarK_RaideR]

On 2/10/2024 at 2:49 PM, Jarric said:

I've not played any of the Pathfinder computer games, so I can't really comment; which game was it?

I'm guessing by "Pathfinder 2" @Laghail is referring to Wrath of the Righteous, assuming Kingmaker would be Pathfinder 1?

 

On 2/10/2024 at 3:43 PM, Jarric said:

This is a Pathfinder 2e adventure called Abomination Vaults, which is a megadungeon campaign that's supposed to be highly lethal. We're each creating two characters given the low life expectancy of our first ones.

Interested to keep up with your exploration of the Abomination Vaults. Think you'll do pretty well in a highly lethal game, especially if you're not drunk

[Sea-to-sky]

1 hour ago, Jarric said:

really hoping we get the weather given that it's the first weekend in July

It is cornwall, there are no promises. We get alot of rain as well as sunshine. I would say its definitely worth the risk as it will be very memorable (regardless of weather conditions).

just hope you get clear days for it an minimal haze as it will be stunning on the hills

 

thanks for posting a breakdown of the points system. Highly useful. Might have a bash with it for a future challenge 😄👍

[Sea-to-sky]

1 hour ago, Jarric said:

With 20 miles between checkpoints it could actually be pretty dangerous if you don't know what you're doing

I was curious about that too. Apparently theres an experiance level requirement to even enter. They also have to wear gps locators with an inbuilt mergency alarm that summons a helecopter and if they stop moving for a certain period the crew will try to contact them to check in.

both of the logs i read for it the runners started hallucinating slightly during the night segments though. Scary stuff not for the feint of heart. 
plus the added bonus of big segments being 1/3 to 1/2 hill. The night section is on the safer, flatter(ish) section of the route. But its supposed to be one of the toughest 100km runs in the uk for a reason.  Couple of years ago 75% of the runners dropped out as a storm hit cornwall then. Only 25 people crossed the line. 

[Jarric]

5 hours ago, DarK_RaideR said:

I'm guessing by "Pathfinder 2" @Laghail is referring to Wrath of the Righteous, assuming Kingmaker would be Pathfinder 1?

 

Interested to keep up with your exploration of the Abomination Vaults. Think you'll do pretty well in a highly lethal game, especially if you're not drunk

 

Ah, ok. I think Wrath of the Righteous still uses Pathfinder 1e rules rather than the 2e rules (though I've not played it).

 

I will definitely try to update about Abomination Vaults here. Though to be fair, I seem to remember doing pretty well in a highly lethal game when I was very drunk 😛 .

4 hours ago, Sea-to-sky said:

I was curious about that too. Apparently theres an experiance level requirement to even enter. They also have to wear gps locators with an inbuilt mergency alarm that summons a helecopter and if they stop moving for a certain period the crew will try to contact them to check in.

both of the logs i read for it the runners started hallucinating slightly during the night segments though. Scary stuff not for the feint of heart. 
plus the added bonus of big segments being 1/3 to 1/2 hill. The night section is on the safer, flatter(ish) section of the route. But its supposed to be one of the toughest 100km runs in the uk for a reason.  Couple of years ago 75% of the runners dropped out as a storm hit cornwall then. Only 25 people crossed the line. 

 

1/2? That's not a hill, that's a wall . Yeah, think I might give that one a miss - I'm definitely not that hardcore! 

 

[Sea-to-sky]

12 minutes ago, Jarric said:

1/2? That's not a hill, that's a wall . Yeah, think I might give that one a miss - I'm definitely not that hardcore! 

I meant more percentage of run as opposed to grade of hill 😆but i can see how that could be confusing….i mean, im not promising some wont be close to 1/2 😆 there is a particular long set of steps near the end of the run that has earned itself a very rude name

[ViperN7]

Good luck with all your goals--including that Diamond League trophy! 

I wish you a fast recovery with your knee!