#me with pathfinder

[astramthetaprime]

Putting the 'Function' in Executive Functioning

Lots of stuff going on and ongoing.

Number One -- Google Tasks is the bomb. Seriously. I'm, like, getting shit done. I'm remembering to do things because my exobrain is remembering it for me. If I can get one thing done around the house each day, on consecutive days, for days at a time, dagnabbit I'm getting shit done. You put it on the Tasks app, it fragging puts it on your Calendar, I keep it open on the phone, it stays in the back of my mind because I see it multiple times in a day, and it gets done. Schedule dog walks, schedule washing dishes, schedule writing, schedule whatever, it's there, you see it, it gets done. Between Tasks, Keep, Gmail and Calendar, I've got the means to keep up with dang near anything. The danger is not overdoing it, because here be burnout yo.

Number Two -- I never got the hang of drinking coffee, y'know? I tried, when I was younger, but it always messed up my stomach and I wasn't thrilled with the taste. My thing was Diet Coke, which I love with the force of a thousand exploding suns. And, later, I developed a love of fine Chinese black teas. (I freely and cheerfully direct your attention to Upton Tea Imports for further information. I loves me some good Chinese Keemuns, that's fine drinking.)

However, in the last week I have discovered a coffee drink I can actually stomach. And it has been educational.

It goes like this: 1 tbsp instant espresso powder, 3 tbsp your choice of creamer powder, 1/4 cup or more chocolate syrup, 8 ounces boiling water. Mix well, with a milk frother mixer thing if you have one but spoon's fine. It's a sort of half-assed mocha thing. I call it 'hellbrew' or Liquid Mania depending on my mood. And speaking of mood ...

The first one I drank it kept me up to 3 AM despite the fact I drank it at least twelve hours earlier.

I've had several since then (I'm afraid to have more than 1 a day), and yesterday it cranked me up so high that I spent more than an hour unable to sit still and stimming like you would not believe. I don't stim physically. Usually. But yesterday dear gods I stimmed. I stimmed so freaking much and suddenly I understand the whole thing now and oh yeah my skin felt like it was vibrating. All over. MY ENTIRE BODY WAS VIBRATING.

I was working at the time. Like I said, educational.

Speaking of ...

Number Three -- I have finally finished training for my job so Monday morning I am turned loose on my own recognizance. It's been 5 weeks? Or six? Five, I think. Regardless, I am working full time and funds are available in abundant supply. Just in time to replace all 4 tires on my car. But still, there have been groceries bought and eaten, and I was able to replace my earbuds when the case on my old ones got messed up. And last night I signed up for health insurance for the new year. And I'll be able to start paying my mortgage again. The reduction of stress has been restful. I am on the verge of not just surviving, but thriving.

Number Four -- Pathfinder Progress. Two nights ago I wrote what is probably the exact midpoint of the book, my protagonist and antagonists finally met face to face. Still not able to speak to each other, but it's only a matter of time. The Taelai have survived the Surprise Asteroid and now outright treachery from some of their own people. They're halfway back to civilization, given their means of travel they've got at least a week to ten days til they reach a friendly port and another week to ten days after that to their throneworld system of Daitengu. There's a lot still left to do. But I am making progress. It's getting done.

And beyond Pathfinder, I now have a third story planned. Tentative title: Cinder. There is a preliminary outline, and because this is me and the theater of the mind has no budget, Imma imagine Tom Cruise starring in it.

Because he's pretty, that's why.

Number Five -- I briefly considered attending the Saga Writer's Conference which is scheduled for July 2024 as my birthday present for my 55th birthday, but honestly I don't think I can justify the expense. I estimate I'd be spending at least $1k if one includes lost wages, and I just can't afford that. I have no doubt it would be a great time and I'd learn a lot of stuff I desperately need to know, plus it's being held at ConGregate and that would be just gravy on the potato cake so to speak. But alas, no.

However! I have been looking in to what I could learn on Skillshare, and the answer is quite a lot. Copyediting, social media marketing, Wordpress skillz, creating author platforms, AI art generation (yeah I know, but professional artists don't work for free and you guys have noticed I'm starting from zero, right?). Also, fiction writing. There's also a lot just for free on YouTube and various podcasts such as the excellent Writing Excuses.

Speaking of ...

Number Six -- ChattaCon is coming up in January, and Imma determined to stalk Mary Robinette Kowal, pin her down and massage her brain.

Number Seven -- I'm actually participating in a local speculative fiction writer's group, a subsect of the Chattanooga Writer's Guild. Like, I went to a real-time, real-life meeting (usually it's over video). This was at a coffee shop but pre- Liquid Mania so there was not 'dance a jig in your chair' or vibrating eyeballs. Next time, I will know what to order to make the proceedings much more entertaining.

Number Eight -- Tom Cruise. Because he's pretty.

[dare-to-dm]

I make and use excel spreadsheets for my TTRPG character sheets, for the most part. I like the freedom it gives me to design the sheet the way I want and have plenty of space for notes. Plus you can plug in all the formulas to make it do the math for you, and the act of putting those formulas in yourself (as opposed to using some ready made tool instead) is a good way to learn more about the mechanics.

Anyway, I recently made a sheet for 5E characters since my friend is running Curse of Strahd in that system. We leveled up the other night, and with the use of my new sheet it literally took me 3 seconds to level my character. XD

[jagalart]

Bounty Hunter

A tengu character I designed for the greatest @ WithTheFox, thank you again for trusting me with this 🖤 I'm back to comms tomorrow so you can expect updates soon 👁️

[puppyeared]

@chipper-smol and @crow-cap watched me interact with every single object in Vaugarde for 2 hours straight

(honorable mention @payasita who couldnt make it this time but hopefully next time ^_^)

[aelyosos]

got this mesmerizing comm of ocean back from @littlestpersimmon recently -- caleb, thank you so much again ! 🌊🐟 your attention to detail is unmatched, and i really feel like you've captured him and his essence here. 💛

caleb's kofi comms are currently open w 1 slot left !

[mayasaura]

Guessing Dungeon Meshi character classes, just for fun! Marcille is obviously a wizard, and Chilchuck is a rogue. Senshi seems to be a fighter with one (1) level in ranger, favored terrain: dungeon. Falin functions as a cleric, but in a system without divine patrons.

Laios..... Laios is a paladin, but he's a pathfinder paladin. A tank with some limited healing capability. All his points slam dunked into animal handling to compensate for his charisma modifier.

[wizardpotions]

the most annoying people on planet earth are people who try to rules lawyer and police other peoples dnd games with any form of homebrew. like girl, its not about you. ESPECIALLY if its to critique someones character design

[lexsnotdead]

it's simping nocticula o'clock 🥀

[harmaakarhu]

7.20.24

finally got to hug wenduag one time

[secondgenerationparrothead]

Art Fight Day 1: Tzatziki by @catbatart

This is my first time joining in art fight, and posting my minis on here! Hoping to keep this rolling throughout the month

My profile can be found here

[astramthetaprime]

Pathfinder and Turning Points

22,000 Words. 53 single-spaced pages so far.

So much has happened already in this story that I find it hard to believe it's only 22k words. It simply doesn't sound plausible that it's only 22k words. But on the other hand, it is only approximately halfway done, so maybe it's a good sign that it will end up being over that magic finish line of 50k+ to be a true novel.

When I was 30 years old I wrote a 300k Star Wars: Phantom Menace fanfic monstrosity called The Way of the Myistics. That was 24 years ago now. A few years later, I wrote a pair of original cyberpunk novels, the first 52k and the sequel 180k. There was a young-adult sci-fi novel that I forget exactly the word count. Then it was like some kind of switch had been thrown and I haven't written anything beyond about 40k ever since. It seemed like my natural story length had converged on the novella, and that was that. The last NaNoWriMo I did ended up being 8300 words. I finished the outlined story and it was inexplicably a short story.

And that was Watchtower. For which I am writing the sequel at this very moment, Pathfinder.

I've always thought the highest, most noble way to participate in fandom was to contribute to that great river of words from which it sprang. In the beginning were the words, the people who read and believed in those words, and the connections they made in the letters columns of Uncle Hugo's magazine. Fandom began with stories of the fantastic and the future. There is no higher calling to me than to continue that ancient tradition of storytelling that our species has relied upon for possibly hundreds of thousands of years.

How else are we supposed to chart our course into the future than by the rumors we tell each other around the fire or the dinner table or in the pages of a book?

Maybe it's just hubris on my part. I dunno, I'm just a writer. All I know is that making these stories gives me life. These little leaves cast upon the ocean of night.

[dovelydraws]

Another little backstory piece for my tiefling- I sketched this whole thing out nearly two months ago, and finishing it to this level wasn't the original plan then, but, well, here we are!

[saul-tortellini]

[eastgaysian]

normal guy

[goatmoy]

I was thinking about a post where someone said that D&D fans will trick out the game to the point of running Dark Souls on Skyrim through mods levels of changes way before touching another system that is literally a much better, easier, and more accessible version of a game either because of Sunk-cost or being stuck in a place where anything outside of D&D has to be imported in where the PHB/DMG is available at Walmart. So I ask the greater Tumblr community of TTRPGs:

[basiloknyl]

handmade 'Don't hug me I'm scared' dice set