Wed Jun 29 08:00:19 EDT 2016 Slept from ten-something to six-something. Got at least seven uninterrupted hours. Sunny. High of seventy-nine. Goals: Work: - Finish going through phone logs Done. - Outline after-hour application No. - Review invoices Done. - Play with Asterisk programming more Done. exten => 664,1,NoOp(-------- Numbers Station Bernie --------) same => n,Answer() same => n,Set(PITCH_SHIFT(tx)=lower) same => n,Set(i=0) same => n(while_start),While($[${i} < 64]) same => n,Playback(silence/1) same => n,GotoIf($[${RAND(0,10)} < 8]?:letter) same => n,SayDigits(${RAND(0,9)}) same => n,Goto(while_end) same => n(letter),SayPhonetic(${SHELL(echo ${RAND(0,6)} | tr 0-6 A-F | tr -d '\n')}) same => n(while_end),Set(i=$[${i} + 1]) same => n,EndWhile same => n,Playback(activated) same => n,Hangup() ; same => n,Playback(zombies) ; same => n,Playback(tt-weasels) ; same => n,Playback(timewarp) ; same => n,Playback(sorrydave) ; same => n,Playback(prime_number) ; same => n,Playback(moo1) ; same => n,Playback(moo2) ; same => n,Playback(marryme) ; same => n,Playback(lots-o-monkeys) ; same => n,Playback(hear-odd-noise) ; same => n,Playback(grammar) ; same => n,Playback(got_kidding) Twenty minute walk at lunch. Sunny. Home: - Read more of Maze Done. http://tenfootpole.org/ironspike/?p=3105 "I like monster reference sheets because the DM can use them as reference at the table. I like a dense and overloaded map legend because it also acts as kind of reference at the table. (I’m not referring to the map complexity, but rather showing other information than room proximity on a map.) I like evocative writing because it can communicate a lot of information in a very small amount of space, leveraging the DM’s imagination through inspiration. And why is it important that it be terse? Because the DM needs to use the fucking thing AT THE TABLE. The party advances to room six. You look down at the book, at room six. You see eight paragraphs of information. How do you scan that and provide a fun experience for the players? You clearly can’t. We resort to highlighters, or taking notes, or annotating the maps, all to pull out the key information that the DM needs to know at a glance." "A well written product doesn’t do this. It’s focused. It communicates the key information quickly and evocatively." What would I want in a published adventure? - Ready to run with only 5-10 minutes of prep. That requires a not more than 1-3 page intro/overview that gets the referee oriented enough that she doesn't need to thoroughly review the rest of the adventure in advance of play. - Concision. Room, NPC, and monster descriptions should be evocative but **brief** --- no more than three or four sentences of modest length. - An annotated map. Note monsters, hazards, and room names _on the map itself_. - Interesting treasure, especially any magic items. - A monster reference sheet. Another twenty minute walk after I got home from work. Vacuumed, washed dished, tidies a couple of things. Breakfast: coffee with half-and-half, yogurt with berries, spinach, carrots Lunch: handful of nuts and an iced Chai tea Dinner: artichoke sandwich and fries