Talk Like a Pirate Day 2024 was on September 19th, and I got a group of friends together to play through the titular One-Shot. We were given 48 hours to prep before we actually played.
The premise of the adventure is a group of ex-pirates receive a letter from their recently deceased former captain stating he has left them his treasure and to travel to the final resting place of their old ship in the morning following to claim it. So each player character arrives near the same time, not aware of the others until that moment. But they still work together to find the treasure left for them. There are 3 encounters, 2 puzzles, and a final boss fight all packaged nicely together.
As a GM, it was very easy to just pick up and go. I intended this to be a play once and not continue, so I didn’t bother reading too much into any specific character lore. It was quick to get through without feeling rushed. Overall, it took our party about 4.25 hours to complete, which is a little bit more than the prescribed 3-4 hours.
Our group consisted of 3 relative Pathfinder newbies, and one who had never played it before (or even used FoundryVTT at that). So working with level 5 characters did come with it’s challenges. The most salient criticism received was from the player who chose the Sorcerer pre-made. The character’s kit does not fit well in this adventure, as there are many tools available that have no use in the adventure as written. For example, their primary reaction was “Warding Sign”, however no part of the adventure incorporates the Trigger. Overall, the player did not feel that impactful and was left feeling frustrated by the end of the adventure.
Everyone did enjoy the premise of a pirate group reunion, and the final boss encounter was completed with happy relief to have survived. Our newest player was able to learn the system pretty quickly, even utilizing minor parts of their kit that would have been easy to ignore. Because of that, I think this would be a good introduction to Pathfinder for a few players if given patience and guidance.
Wow, been a couple of years, eh? Not that anyone will read this other than myself. But that’s okay. I’ve been wanting to practice writing longform content again and never forgot I got this blog. @Matt, if you see this, I got a 5 year plan for write.as because I believe what you and your team do is fantastic and I’m glad to be a supporter in this way. Even if I don’t blog but 5 times in 5 years, I’m happy with my “purchase”.
I've been doing volunteer work with different organizations in my community the past several months. Though I haven't felt 100% committed, I've been consistent with holding myself accountable and participating when I am available. This led to me getting a leadership position within the org.
So last week, I watched my friend play a game called Muse Dash. It's a cute, two-button rhythm game. Within 5 minutes of watching them play, I knew I wanted to get the game. I picked the game up on Wednesday, and it has had me reflecting on my history with the genre, so I figured it would make a good post today.
So in my quest for the perfect gaming setup, I bought a second Raspberry Pi to function as an emulation machine. Setting it up has been a bit of a hassle: the first hdmi cable I used was a 1.4 which was causing several screens to just be black. Getting my SN30 Pro set up on Bluetooth was also problematic; it would not recognize the L2 and R2 triggers when connected via the Switch or X-input connections. I found out I have to use the input for Android, but it takes longer than normal to get the initial connection at startup. I was able to test a single ROM on it to confirm everything works. I'll be getting all the theming and filters set up next, then it's off to the races
The other day, I took the plunge and removed Windows from my laptop. Since I installed Linux, I've used it nearly unanimously. The only time I would switch back to Windows was when I needed to use Excel. That did not justify it staying on my system and taking up space. So, I copied all of the files from my user account and deleted it. I installed Windows on a Virtual Machine in case I ever needed to use Excel or any other Windows exclusive software.
I've always been a fan of AV tinkering. Back in high school, I played bass guitar, and would sometimes spend more time finding ways to get it to play using a weird combination of equipment than playing. In college, I tried to build my own surround sound setup using an enourmous bass speaker, two computer speakers, and two bluetooth speakers (it worked, but it was awful).
So over the weekend, I spent a lot of time making tweaks and changes on my laptop to improve the overall experience for myself. In the process, I learned a lot about GNOME extensions. Previously, I was operating on a very stock experience. It wasn't the worst thing in the world, but I knew I could do more.
So this past week, I started working on uninstalling several apps and programs and replacing them with sandboxed web apps. On my phone, I replaced the apps for Tusky and American Express with Progressive Web Apps (PWAs). So instead of installing new software and letting it have free reign, it is run through my web browser instead.
Between work, volunteering, and socializing, I'm getting super drained of energy. Unwinding doesn't feel like unwinding. I'm in need of a literal vacation.