Tale of the Manticore

Saturday, September 23, 2023

More AI for inspiration

Sometimes I use AI as a visual reference with characters; sometimes I don't use anything. Here's 2 where I have found it helpful.

AI Jayce

AI Rosefingers

Monday, September 11, 2023

Apple users might have noticed that episode 37 of Season 1 has been missing for a while. I've been back and forth with my host and with Apple for a month and it seems like all I can do is a complete reupload. Hopefully this will work. Sorry for the inconvenience if it spams your feed.

Map of Upper Camortine

Shownotes for Episode 44

Theme Enchiridion https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8NkG3bhIxU

Welcome 148 Barovian Castle https://tabletopaudio.com/

Part 3 Kyellan 'Carved in Stone' https://soundcloud.com/kyellan-cc/carved-in-stone

Some FX: https://www.zapsplat.com

Cross Promo Partners: DNDPodcastUK & Clericon/The Dungeon Minister

Monday, September 4, 2023

Dungeon Pizza v2.0

Boy did I nerd out on this project...

I decided to make an updated version of Professor DM's awesome dungeon pizza with a couple of upgrades. I wanted a lazy susan and I wanted it to be magnetic. This is the best craft I've done so far, I think, not that it's anything special.

Here's how I did it.

First, I used an old vinyl 10" record and cut up bits of fridge magnet. These were measured into 1" squares before being cut into random flagstone shapes and glued on. For texture (the white stuff) I used a touch of caulk.

This was actually very fast and easy to do.

Here's a photo of the magnets I used.

Here's the completed record with all magnets glued on and given a once over of 50% Mod Podge and 50% grey paint. You want to do this step so everything is sealed in.

Next, paint the flagstone different colours. They look too bright at this point, but that's OK.

Glued a CD under the record.

made a base with a second cd glued bottom up. There's a nut going through the centre.

Glued leatherette to the base. This was a bit of a sloppy job, but the only use is to keep the back of the nut from scratching the table.

Finally a blackwash to knock down the colours, a gloss coat of Mod Podge and a second blackwash to dull down the shine. I stuck an LED bezel in the centre of the record to keep the whole thing tight to the nut.

The magnets are fairly weak, which is good. I don't want them to grip too hard. Actually, if you use caulking to texture the magnets, you've got to be careful to use just a tiny amount or else the magnetism is lost. Worth testing a sample bit before you do a batch.

Friday, September 1, 2023

A Real Experience with Wading Through Freezing Water

Minor spoiler here if you have yet to listen to ep 43...

Way back in 2009, I was living and working in Korea (as a middle school teacher). Since I was there for just one year, I decided to make the most of everything and say yes to virtually every opportunity and offer. I had a million adventures that year, but one I will never forget was the Sancheoneo Ice Fishing Festival.

The festival has all kinds of activities, the biggest of which is the ice water pool in which brave contestants jump into freezing water barefootted and barelegged and try to catch fish in the pool bare handed. As I was up for anything that year, I volunteered. I'd never done a polar bear swim or anything like that before, so I was not prepared for what happened when I jumped in. IMMEDIATELY, my feet and legs lost all feeling and I panicked inside, wondering what would happen if I were to fall over ... I'd be totally paralyzed. And in a pool of water. Not good!

I took a step and saw a fish. I plunged in a hand for the fish and not only missed, but ended up losing all feeling in that arm up to the elbow. Now I was in trouble. I wasn't sure if I could make my legs go even far enough to get me back out of the pool. I sort of stumbled to one side, luckily stayed upright, and got out. I have no idea how anyone managed to stay in there, let alone catch a fish. Remarkable! I can still remember that there were some people crying in the warming tent afterwards because the return of one's flesh to normal temperature is a painful journey.

Glad I did it? Kind of.

Do it again? No way.

Did I feel bad for my PCs before they had to get into the channel? Oh yes.

Shownotes for Episode 43