What did you do in the shop today?

[Paul TIKI]

9 hours ago, Frosty said:

"Boots of Butt Kicking," sure sounds like a Dungeons and Dragons magic item to me. I was thinking more along the lines of, "Need your butt clogged?" How about "Butt Clogger?" 

You are pretty close.  There is a wonderful card game called "Munchkin" by Steve Jackson Games.  It pokes fun at D&D tropes and I heartily recommend it for anyone who has ever played a role playing game and has a sense of humor.  The tag line for the game is "Kill the Monster, Steal the Treasure, Stab your Buddy".  There is actually a card in the game called "Boots of Butt Kicking" which is +2 Footwear.  It goes great with Spiky Elbows, Spiky knees, and the Badass Bandana.  There is even a card "Kneepads of Allure"

 

[pnut]

4 hours ago, rustyanchor said:

Maybe the dollar machines take the SBA or Sacajawea sized dollars now, dunno.

Last time I was in a casino the slot machines only took bills and paid out in a receipt you had to take to the cashier. Hearing all the clinking when you won was a good portion of the fun. Needless to say I didn't stay long. 

Pnut

[Deimos]

10 hours ago, George N. M. said:

Also, fiberglass or hard plastic toe caps are preferred to steel because if crushed they will rebound while steel will stay deformed and continue crushing your toes.

Sorry, but that is just not true. Or at least not over here. The steel we use is called Brittle steel, so it will break instead of fold. Also, it takes about 2000 kg to even deform or break steel toes. And lets be honest, if something drops on your boots that is heavy enough to crush steel or hard plastic, it wont do you much good if the toe cap stays flat or it rebounds. (can also be that I misunderstand you because of the language barrier)

I found this article about the topic. "https://www.bootconw.com/steel-toe-work-boots-myths-debunked/"

YESSSS, munchkin, was hoping someone would pick up on that one. I may have gone a bit overboard with that hobby, we have 7 version of that game 

I prefer more "normal" items in my dnd games.

[Chimaera]

We’ll see. I’m not ready to use any silver in mokume, but when I am and have more time, I might go roll hunting.

Also, munchkin is incredible. Especially pathfinder munchkin.

[JHCC]

11 hours ago, rustyanchor said:

A quarter may be worth a bit more than twenty five cents.

That would be $0.375, since a quarter is already two bits. 

[rustyanchor]

Even at 3 bits, depending on the spot price of silver, $0.375 would be a steal...not steel, but silver.

A 90% silver dollar is .77344 oz, a half is .36169, and a quarter is .18084 oz of pure silver, from The Official Red Book, A Guide Book of United States Coins, by RS Yeoman.

So, at $10. oz, a quarter is $1.80 in silver. Older coins, pre 1837, had a higher silver content, but I don't think I would be selling them at bullion value. 

In my former life, Red Book and coin magazines were what AIA and IFI are for me today, but without the internet.

[George N. M.]

Deimos:  My information is decades old and based on what I learned and read when I worked in the steel mills.  Added to that was a "war story" told me by an EMT who attended an accident scene where a guy's toes were trapped in a crushed boot.  It is entirely possible that both in the US and Europe toecap technology has advanced to eliminate this issue. I yield to your more current information.

"By hammer and hand all arts do stand."

[BillyBones]

Saw a video of a smith in some far off country that was making something but was barefooted. He knocked a coal out of the fire then when walking around the forge stepped on it. We laughed, it was pretty funny watching him dance around. 

Copper pennies minted before '82 are worth $.02 in copper. 

The '42-'45 silver nickel is at $1.42.  

You guys may already know this but there is a website called coinflation that lists melt prices of coins. 

I was trying to buy a pop at work one day and the machine kept spitting a dime back out at me. After the 3rd or 4th time i looked closer and it was actually a steel penny. 

One of the mechanics we had when i was stationed at Fort Hood was putting the winch on a deuce and a half when it slipped and fell on his foot. The innards of his toes were squished out like toothpaste from a tube. 

Has anyone used a steel toe to forge? I have a couple pairs of old boots i found and was thinking maybe i could use the toe to make coal shovels out of or something. 

[Deimos]

Not a problem George, there are tons of "war stories" about any kind of PPE. Most of them are 100% wrong, some are partly true. What is always an issue is that lots of those stories where made up by testosterone fueled "tough guys" who find any kind of PPE is for girls. Start an argument with a TIG welder about wearing gloves or sleeves and you understand what I mean by that. Its the same with people arguing about wearing seatbelts in a car: "its safer to fly trough the windshield then to be crushed"...

3 hours ago, Chimaera said:

We’ll see. I’m not ready to use any silver in mokume, but when I am and have more time, I might go roll hunting.

Also, munchkin is incredible. Especially pathfinder munchkin.

I have not played Pathfinder Munchkin, I did play Pathfinder for about 5 years.

[Frosty]

Munchkin eh? I'll have to take a look. My covid vaccination is about up to full potency, I might hit the local card, game shop and see if anybody's playing. I don't know if anybody actually plays D&D anymore, there are a lot of RPGs out there, most with better character generation and resolution tables. 

Frosty The Lucky.

[Deimos]

Dnd is still going strong, 5th edition is a very nice system to play with, better then 4th edition (everyone was a mage) and a lot quicker then 3,5. Actual play podcasts have given it less of a "living in my moms basement nerd" vibe and more a "I like to improvise, have fun and play a cool story" vibe.

With covid it is very hard to find a group to play with again, would love to start playing any kind of pen and paper game again. (Pathfinder, DND 3,5 or 5th, Call of Cthulhu (for those that like Lovecraftian horror))

[BillyBones]

My old neighbor i had every Sunday they played D&D. 

I am old enough to remember when AD&D came out. Elves and dwarves were character classes, not races in the original D&D.

[Frosty]

I don't know in which box in the basement my old RPG stuff is. I have Gygax's first Basic DND book it predates the first actual books and was a lot more fun. Many years ago I played with a few guys around a camp fire, no books, no paper, no miniatures. Pick a stick or pebble to be your character and keep track in the dirt with a stick or charcoal on a piece of wood. We'd discuss what characters and NPCs would be in the group, randomly pic special abilities and disabilities. Draw straws for who had to be DM and our character out of a hat. 

When a good game got rolling sometimes the only time you'd open your eyes was to refill your mug or get another munchy. 

One of the guys introduced me to rolling the bones, actual sheep knuckle bones or the alternative of sticks, three bones = a 3-12 die roll, etc. They were almost entirely in your head story telling. Best RPGs I've ever played. I miss those days, changed job and that was it. 

Frosty The Lucky.

 

 

[Deimos]

Now that sounds like a story to remember. As I am getting older I find myself less drawn to just making strong characters but more towards making a world/ telling a story. The only thing I lack is a group to play with 

[Frosty]

Since the TBI I can't DM, I can't keep the story straight and on track. I lost track of those guys 30 years ago. A friend and were getting together every week or so but one on one just isn't a proper game. I liked 4-5 players and 6 was almost too many. Maybe once things settle down gain. 

I liked interesting curses when I DMed a game, one of my best was random laughter. The cursed broke into laughter based on a die roll, how hard depended on another. It was weighted heavily towards giggles but the occasional fully out of control belly laugh added spice to the game and you know how contagious laughter can be. Occasionally the whole party ended up rolling on the ground laughing.

There were modifiers say thirst, the thirstier the more likely to laugh. and if the player could figure it out a cure was always possible. Sometimes rolling laughter would scare a monster off.

The random flatulence curse attracted monsters though. The you smell like a lollypop curse got inflicted on a player who almost always said, "what's happening" when asked what he was going to do. Monsters licked him till he was naked and weaponless. His only possession was a small pouch he had to tie over his privates to keep the biting flies off. 

I finally had to start killing his character off every time he asked "what's happening?" Gaming just wasn't his thing and he stopped coming. 

A couple years ago I tried to start an online RPG on Iforge but I couldn't keep my head in the game. We took a break for a holiday and I just forgot to put up the next move and it died. There weren't even monsters, one bashful old bear just in case. It was called "On The Beach." about a charter fishing boat going aground and mostly sinking on an island in Prince William Sound. It was a story of what a group of blacksmiths would do and make in a survival situation. 

It all stemmed from the question, "What is the first tool you'd make if you were stranded somewhere."

It could've been much better but I couldn't pull it off.

Frosty The Lucky.

[Deimos]

That curse has been used in DND as a spell since 3rd edition, so more people liked a spell effect like that. 

Does the TBI prevent you from playing as a player? I will look that thread up, it sounds like a really interesting concept. When I start running a group again I want to start my story on a whaling ship, with blanc character, just to see how everyone develops his own character. As a DM I would find it very interesting to form the world around the player choices to make them into the DND classes. 

[Frosty]

The group I played with pretty much stopped maybe 6 months after the first Monster manual came out. I think the game rules were the first "Advanced D&D". We used to play after hours at work and management may have forbade the use after hours. 

I think I can still play though I may have to adopt a chaotic character to pull it off. Chaotic good can be interesting. 

Are you going to have characters roll up abilities? You know: Strength, Dexterity intelligence, wisdom, etc? Our characters got a lot better when Steve the usual DM ignored Gygax's statement that if you don't play by the rules as written you aren't playing D&D and must stop. We immediately stopped following them and it got better. We'd roll ability with reasonable room to fudge. Steve stopped overseeing character roles and such.

My longest surviving and favorite character was a human ranger who reached the level where he could use clerical spells. I picked one spell, "Grow." and applied all the gain a spells to increasing it's strength.  Richard wore a vest of pockets with various seeds, spores, molds, etc. Seriously, what monster worth it's treasure doesn't have lice? ANY idea how hungry a couple thousand 5lb. lice are? 

Yeah, if you get a game going online I'd love a chance to play.

Frosty The Lucky.

[Will-I-am]

I think my character was a paladin in D&D.  I was more interested in painting the miniature metal characters.  Then got into building rockets, the hardest skill levels the better, launching them and then the challenge of trying to catch the rocket with parachute before it hits the ground.  Good times.

[Deimos]

I still have every character I ever made, both in DND 3,5 and Pathfinder. I have played multiple fighters, clerics and rogues over the years. My favorite character ever (even the DM and other players went slack jawed when I revealed his "secret".

When our group got of our ship and where walking in the market, my rogue was looking like a true nobleman, decked out in gemstones, fancy clothes and the manner of someone who thinks everyone should bow to him. Since we had about 3 sessions before we actually had to do anything other then roleplay out conversations and investigating a kidnapping nobody thought my character was anything more then just a bard or something, very good in conversation, but otherwise without any depth. Until we got to a house with a locked door, and we really needed the information that was inside of there. So I order the other two players to go back to our quest giver to see if he could get a locksmith or guards, anything to do it by the book.

As soon as they left I did the following: "Ok, I make sure they are out of sight and I bolt into the alleyway next to the house, I check if no-one is looking at me and from my large waistband I reveal a specially designed suit that wraps around my noble man outfit in the matter of seconds. With my entire outfit covered in black cloth I vault over the fence and into the area behind the house. I pick the lock and enter the house. Within minutes I found what we where looking for and exit the house. In the alley way I tear away my thieves outfit and stash it back around my waist."

Now the DM knew what I was up to with the character roleplay wise, but they still did not know what I could do in a fight. As soon as we got further into the story and confronted the kidnapper my character disappeared when the fighting begun (rolling high enough to even fool the other players characters, only to emerge right behind the biggest enemy and with a sneak attack cut him up like a piece of paper. Being unarmed one moment and within the blink of an eye having pulled out knives, many many knives.

 

As a DM I take the rules pretty loose, character design is one thing, but roleplay that makes a character weaker or stronger is way better in my opinion. For instance, anyone can put a 18 into charisma. But that does not make your "I talk to him and he like me" work, putting in roleplay that makes everyone listen in silence does. I am more a kind of DM that lets people make a char and then add temporary bonusses when people do cool, good, dumb or evil things.

[Frosty]

Virtually all our characters were lead miniatures and painted, even the more significant or recurring type monsters. What we didn't have were buildings, terrain, etc. We used paper desk blotters and colored markers. 

At the moment Sean and I have been using a large dry erase board and seeing as it's magnetic occasional features stuck to it. I've been thinking of making a mold from a plastic miniature so I can put a copper wire armature in it, magnetic strip feet and cast my own miniature from paintable silicone calk. If it works I'll be able to pose it as I want, change weapons and such. Right now I hot glue weapons and shield on it to change hold, etc. I bought the low temp hot glue gun special.

Getting a miniature painted satisfactorily is important, believe me I understand. Richard had blue eyes then a spell gave him night vision and his eyes turned gray. I painted them that night!  Sharp grease pencils are good to put bruises and blood on miniatures. 

Fun times.

[Deimos]

hehe, I also played Warhammer for some time, so I have about a hundred painted miniatures somewhere. Was never really good at it, but it gives a character some form on the battlefield.

If people are interested we could always start a thread to build the world we want to play in. I am a bit of a Lovecraft/horror fan tough, guess for the forum I need to tone that down a bit.

[JHCC]

On a side note, the lead writer for D&D for the last two decades is a good friend of mine from college. 

[Will-I-am]

I also had a bout with video games.  Me and my wife used to play Borderlands with split screen for hours; it was full of magic and action, fun.  But, I always preferred the outdoors.  Hiking the woods as a kid, and trail running now with my wife.

[Jonnytait]

Forging bolt jaw tong blanks today

[Apple Duck]

6 minutes ago, Jonnytait said:

Forging bolt jaw tong blanks today

 

ATTABOY! someone was out in their shop!

very nice by the way