(Fistful of Lead) The 39th Annual Holiday Cat Wrangle

It's a weekend with the kids, so among their requests to see friends, sporting events, and their former classmates in the school musical, I did manage to get a quick holiday game in with them.  

I've got a host of cool holiday scenarios hiding in the dark recesses of the blog, but with the kids' love of animals, and my recent creation of cat objective markers, a good ol' fashioned cat wrangling using Fistful of Lead was set into place.  

I have a small bin of Christmas terrain I've accumulated over the years, and the kids put everything on the board. 

The girls picked from my Gnome Wars and Mousling figures and the objective was easy.  Wrangle up the cats and lock them in a building (or Taco Truck) so the outside trees could be safely decorated.  

1. During the cat initiative each feline would roll on the Cat Random Movement chart
2. If a cat was inside a building and the door opened each cat would escape on  1 or 2 on 1d6.
3. If cats do need to fight, they roll a d8.  All gnomes and mouslings roll d10.  

The chart was pure unadulterated chaos.  One gnome was inches away from the cat, only to have it bolt up the water tower, while on the same turn, a cat on a roof just gently dropped down a rubbed up against another gnome's trouser leg.    Another gnome ran to a cat, minding its own business, startling it, making it not only run off, but be a case of the zoomies for two rounds. until finally stopping in front of the Princess Gnome.

The cats were also collecting candy canes, we didn't determine victory conditions. 

Things seemed to be going quickly, with enough time to reset and playtest it against, until the evil creatures the cat was staring at finally emerged.    The evil mechanical beasts wrecked havoc (except for the one the cat tripped up), but were dispatched with great fanare.  

Cats were wrangled, cats were stolen, snowballs were thrown ineffectively (using Wiley Games Snowbrawl rules we played last year. 

It took me awhile to recognize my daughter Millie was wearing the perfect shirt for the game....

In all, Millie won, 4 cats to 2.  The evil mechanical creatures were vanquished.  We decided I should venture out for another six cat ornaments, at least, as well as setting them up further into the table.  

All of Millie's cat congregated at the tower (aka the Kitty Hotel)

Random Kitten Movement Chart (ChatGPT), with some adjustments and modified for random movement in inches.

1. Nap Curl – The kitten circles twice and flops down wherever it is. Does not move for several minutes.

2. Sudden Dash – Bolts 2d6 inches in a random direction, stops abruptly, looks offended.

3. Investigate That – Walks 1d6 inches toward the nearest small object, sniffs intensely.

4. Underfoot Menace – Weaves between the nearest creature’s legs; that creature must notice or risk stumbling.

5. Tail Chase – Spins in place, attacking its own tail. No meaningful movement.

6. Climb Attempt – Tries to climb the nearest vertical surface (leg, curtain, chair, pack).

7. Box Magnetism – Moves directly to the nearest box, crate, bag, or open container.

8. Freeze and Stare – Stops moving and stares at something no one else can see. (Second result for cat means that thing is real!)

9. Pounce Practice – Crouches, then hops 1-6 inches toward a shadow, dust mote, or imaginary prey. (Second result for cat means that thing is real!)

10. Affection Drift – Pads over to the warmest or friendliest creature nearby and leans against them.

11. Retreat to Safety – Moves 2d6 inches toward a familiar or sheltered spot.

12. Chaos Zoomies – Runs in a loose circle around the area for 1–2 rounds before collapsing.

(Painting) Another Cheap Bunker for Death Planet Iota

Besides the smattering of figures I've been clearing off the painting bench, there has been some literal junk cluttering up the paint racks.  

It's been six weeks since I discovered Bill Making Stuff, and I have been hoarding the bits, pieces, and discount items I've been looking out for.  But before that, I was already expanding my town of Carf for Death Planet Iota with cheap plastic food packaging.  

There's nothing crazy about this.  Packaging for cookies, a drink bottle cap, a cap for a squeezable apple sauce, and a safety guard for a disposable razor for the door.   

(Brutal Quest) Escaping with the Pig

 I figured it was time to run another quick game of Brutal Quest with my OG Reaper Mouslings.  Last time, they blasted their way to claim the Golden Pig.

This time I flipped the map in two dimensions (the mouslings start where they finished last, and I literally flipped the double sided but identical map from green to red for fun.).

And I gave their opponents an identical wizard of their own... although the goblin mooks were based on an underpowered "mercenary" template I found on the Lead Adventure Forum.  

Fresh off the painting bench and onto the mini-battlefield...

Objective:  The Mouslings need to move the Golden Pig off the board with 20cm of the opposite corner.  Whoever held the Pig could not attack or use spells, less they drop the pig as a free action, but needed to use an action to pick it up.  This is the big reason the Mousling Wizard didn't just cast teleport and blink out of there, leaving his minions to handle the mess.

 I did not set up a turn limit.

That was the biggest mistake of all.

Turn One:  Two Goblins take a defensive position at the bridge and the wizard hurls a fireball, damaging, but not forcing a break test.  

Scrye, the Mousling Wizard was wisely hiding within the ruins, peaking out to throw a fireball of his own.    The other mouslings charged across the bridge, making one goblin flee.  

Turn 2-?:  And then the dice seemed to fail... The goblin had weaker stats but the the experienced mouslings simply could not put them away.    The axe-wielding mousling was wrecking havoc, even managing to track down and dispatch the opposing wizard.  That 3d4 damage against the unarmored 1d4-1 damage soaking meant considerable damage each time.  

Still, those mangey goblins were persistent.   The Brutal Quest system is based on a Bennie system known as ... Brutality.  You earn Brutality by hurting opponents, making them fail break tests, killing them outright, etc....  and you can turn those points in for number of things such as:

• Giving your figure a bonus to it's next action (1 Brutality) 
• Automatically Passing a break test (1)
• A Reroll (3)
• An extra action during the turn (6)
• Increase a core skill by 1 after the game (6)

It's a bit of bookkeeping, but fun. 

About five turns in, the sword wielding mouse used his Persuasion trait, which forced the goblin he was fighting to break off from combat and step back.   That gave  Scrye the Mousling Wizard an opening past the bridge to make a break for it.

One problem:  the goblins hadn't taken their turn yet, so the disengaged goblin starts to run towards the mousling holding a solid gold pig.  

It was apropos to call combat brutal.  The goblin got a couple good hits into Scrye, and the other mouslings attempted to rescue their leader, and it alternated between no one failing their break test, of the goblin's leather armor absorbing all the club and sword damage. 

Another way to earn Brutality I omitted previously?  You gain a Brutality if you absorb all the damage from an opponent's attack.   Between  hitting the wizard twice, the goblin suffered no damage from four successful attacks.

Another way to use Brutality?   This character does an automatic 1d10 damage to their opponent.  Opponent may make armor rolls as normal.   AS A FREE ACTION AT ANY TIME (4 Brutality)

That was a large 9 points of damage on Scrye, and he officially dropped, both his body and the pig.  

In the end, the mousling I've simply named Grey Hat, scooped up the prize and ran off the board, but that lone goblin was still standing toe to toe against two vastly superior mousling, including the one wielding the devastating axe.  

In the post-game, The goblins and their wizard master recovered with minimal issue, but Scrye the mousling wizard, suffered Brain Damage, giving him a permanent penalty to his Psychic (Magic) and Awareness traits.  

It was a fun game, I enjoy the Brutality mechanic, but it can get bogged down in play as often as a group could easily dispatch a crew in a round or two.  As much as I love the concept and scale of Brutal Quest, and it's sci-fi parent Planet 28, I think I'm returning to Savage Showdown for the mouslings and continue with Fistful of Lead for sci-fi. 

(Painting) A Dog-Gone Wizard by Mike Lung

 We continue my end of 2025 clean-up of the painting bench with a random figure.

This is a personal sculpt by friend of the blog, Award Winning GM Mike Lung.  This is well over a decade old, and one of two of his early attempts at sculpting and casting in resin.  I remember the other figure a bit more, a terrier dog in the same garb, and with the paw-like hands of this one, I kept with a brown/black fur under those robes.  The wand is just a toothpick added after the fact. 

In the Queue - Teddy Bears, Christmas minis, and looking into new projects for the new year. 

Project: 350 -  from 470 (281 drafts /189 scheduled)  from  470 (279 /191).  

(Gnome Wars) République Libre des Gnomes du Québec

In the Gnome Wars universe, there is no great French colonization effort in North America.  The aggressive British expansion worldwide was a steady, but brittle crawl across Canada, which forced the independence of O'Canada even before the Americans below.   and by the time of the American Uncivil War, the British were more focused on trying to retain British Columbia than its closer possessions that were truly in name only. 

Quebec had just naturally developed from a collection of French gnomes travelling to avoid war... or just subject to the whims of The Wanderlust. They had set up shop in region, while a host of other gnomish and animal group settled the Maritime Region.  

Largely ignored by the British, the Quebecois simply installed their own French-speaking governor was the British one passed away. It was entirely bloodless. 

The current government of Quebec was established in 1850, after a group of angry Union veteran Leprechauns marched up to Quebec on a whim.  The "Fed-Up-Ians" managed to sack the capital of Montreal (forcing it to move to the city of Quebec).  The new government formed as the Leprechauns marched back, was freer Republic, with a dedication to Liberty and what they considered French culture.  Rights were created and bestowed upon everyone with its borders...

... except the Hated Irish.

In the modern years leading up the German-American War, the Quebecois have formally reconnected with their original French brethren, gladly trading for advanced weapons and uniforms, although it's not surprising to see Canadian equipment at Quebec bases, with everything rewritten in French. 

(Painting) Balazar, Iconic Summoner Gnome Sorcerer by Reaper Bones

Another Reaper coming off the painting bench, although it's not holdiay... but it is a gnome.

Balazar, Iconic Summoner Gnome Sorcerer is a figure I painted up while at Mepacon last month. With a large and medium brush, I was satisfied with the subtle detail (and to be honest, it's barely acceptable for a figure I don't think I'll use).  

Balazar, Iconic Summoner Gnome Sorcerer

Having finally seen the original Reaper Pathfinder Metal figure, I continue with the degradation of the molds that transferred over to Reaper Bones.  Details, such as a dagger, are marred, and things are so smoothed over along the face that I thought a feature was a tiny brim to Balazar's headpiece, when in the metal version they are very distinct and giant eyebrows.

Just to prove the point, I wasn't able to determine what exactly the head of the gnome's staff was.   On the metal figure, it's easily two pieces of metal curving away.  There's so much odd flash  and trim on the figure, that I originally interpreted it as a gnome-equivalent of a 10-foot pole with a cartoon gloved hand pointing.  

(Gamma World) Not a Test #101 - Eclipsing Luna

The wedding of Lathar and Thunnelda was a great celebration.  Now it is time for another grand adventure for the De Facto Explorers...  after a lot of rest and prep

================= 

Lathar Bracken: A pure-strain human from River Bend.  He's got the muscle, the face, and a mount for most encounters.  Lathar's trusty beast of burden, No Name, travels wherever he does.   Looking for trouble in all the right places. The two-time champion of the Fair-Town Queen's Joust.  Recently married Thunnelda Haycock.

Sneaky Pete: A mutated weasel scout.  Pete's telepathy and night vision take a backseat when he whips out his electrical powers.  Apparently addicted to his newly uncovered yellow powder found at "The Pool House"

Sonny Helianthus: a nearly 10' tall sentient sunflower artifact examiner with four arms, and trusted Restorationist ties. Knowledgeable,  but not a good one with device repairs or upgrades. 

Slitheran Wurmtail (aka Squiggles): a mutated earthworm scout, in impromptu power armor, looking for trouble in all the wrong places,  and finding it often.   He  has been subject to genetic testing and developed super-human strength, a more human body, and a thick coat of shaggy white hair.  Recently gave birth to a pile of baby worms. 

================================================================

As all the guests left Riverbend for Parts Unkown, the De Facto Explorers forced themselves into a well-deserved rest.  Between the experiments, the glow, and a non-stop spring and summer, many were holding on by a string, and a plant-mutant like Sonny, a thinning frond.  

For over a month, the Explorers healed up, studied, worked on projects, and in the case of Lathar, get to know their loved ones better.  

*Squiggles - The only one who didn't need to heal further was Squiggles, who currently had quickly recovered from the wedding-day delivery of all his worm children.   

Despite Sonny's claim that 14.3 second generation spawn could be raised per first generation spawn, Squiggles spent time  building a series of small tunnels to protect the youngsters 

*Pete - There had been no further incursions at Sneaky Pete's house, and no one had set off any traps in his own system of tunnels, although a flood that occurred while everyone was in down did damage his work.  Once he was healthy, he was insistent everyone travel with him back to KIA Academy to recharge their power cells.  No one wanted another trip down there, so the weasel convinced Sonny to test out the black, angular pistol that had discovered months ago. 

*Sonny - The sunflower examiner did little but sit outside Farmer Yulius's homestead, until Pete convinced him to move into the Restorationist complex to test out the pistol.   Unlike previous disasters, Sonny quickly figured out the settings on this weapon of the Ancients, aimed the pistol at a glass jar on a fence post.   He missed the jar, but completely vaporized the two lengths of fence beneath it.  

Justinian forbid the weapon from the town.   One 4/5 shots left with a unique power cell they had not encountered.

*Luna:  The glow is less than anticipated.  The glow and bad water caused most of the illnesses, however.  There were some of humans, not many mutant animals or plants, small merchant carvans to protect against bandits.  

Luna of the Restorationists

Pete again insisted on another trip back to their secret research facility "The Pool House"  bringing some containers and doing a mass conversion of materials into this "curry" substance he was developing a worsening addiction to.  A few cut up logs were tossed into the tank, and full blocks of the yellow substance were pulled out.  

Sonny made a few more random experiments to fill in some significant gaps in his research of the pool.   A large nail, a much larger branch, and a single dried up leaf went into the pool.  They transformed into some indistinguishable type of meat.   Pete was enthralled, mixing the curry with the meat and preparing to dry it out on the return trip.  

Lathar brought No-Name up to the closest creek to water him, upstream from the buried golden bird, and found two human skeletons, picked apart in the few weeks since they had left.  Pete was enthralled, mixing the curry with the meat and drying it out on the return trip.  

The group returned to a disgruntled Squiggles.  Another storm must have struck Riverbend, flooding some of the smaller tunnels for the younglings.  Nineteen of the second generation children drowned in the waters. 

Pete was insistent that they travel to Luna's discoveries with No-Name AND the wagon, to haul back all the artifacts back to Riverbend.  Luna gave the weasel the side-eye, yet everyone else appeared to be fine with lumbering a wagon through a trail that had barely been blazed....

GM Notes:  The twenty young worms that lost their lives this session

🪱 The Twenty Departed Wigglers of the Second Clutch

1. Pebblechomp

2. Sir Gloog

3. Wiggleford the Meek

4. Squelchy Tumnus

5. Jellyboot

6. Muck-Dancer

7. Plip

8. Brimley

9. Fizzleloop

10. Worram

11. Greldine

12. Tootstring

13. Xarnax (destined for prophecy, lost to a falling acorn)

14. Snibble

15. Orbular Pete

16. Dirtzapper

17. Hummox

18. Lintwig

19. Captain Tunnelpants

20. Elphina of the Loam

Next: #102 - 

(Savage4) Tomb of the Serpent - #4.4 - The Thing in the Well

As Napoleon's armies drew near, the master of the nearby castle fled into the woods and dropped a small bundle into a stone well.  He had hoped to return and retrieve it, but fate was not so kind, and there is remains to this day.

Centuries later, Bethany LePage and her entourage  find themselves in the Netherlands, a stone's throw from Leiden, looking for the stone well that plagued their dreams.  They knew the item was in the dark, cold water, but what they didn't realize was that the Servants of Apophis had been following them the whole way...

The cadre from the Soviet Union had found one of the artifacts of Apophis hiding in the States, the gang of "El Dobbie" Gato failed to find one up in Scotland.  The dreams of the end of the world had led dilettante Bethany LePage to the Netherlands, to that odd well that kept beckoning her in her dreams.

Our Continental Explorers (L-R) Bethany LePage, Suzanne Verlaine, William Scott, and Claire Halloway

I figured that our heroes had an advantage in the scenario.  They were already at the well and needed to spend a turn to go down the well, then achieve three different task successes, one per turn, I figured a decent contingent of cultists when put enough pressure on them, but the heroes would succeed. 

Miss LePage took it upon herself to go down the well....

I did not anticipate a statistical impossibility. 

For this game, my daughter Maja ran the third and final league of heroes for the campaign.  She had picked her figures, giving her leader, Bethany, no weapons, and the only thing bigger than a pistol was William Scott's shotgun, and William was a mook/minion level character with a Shooting die of d6 (Short range is a 4+ to hit and you can roll higher dice for better characters).

Luckily for her (I thought), the appearance of one cultist with a pistol, one Serpent Priest with spells, and the rest being cultists running amok with big swords should be sufficient.  

Early one the cultists attacked William Scott, managing to make him Shaken.  The old man shook that off like a winter chill, knocked the cultist out with the butt of his shotgun, and proceeded to track the others down like it was cultist season and there was no limit.

Oh the cultists tried, but William's shotgun kept hitting, and when they tried to reconnoiter around him, Suzanne would turn a corner and gun them down, with enough damage to take out a three-wound hero, much less a one hit mook.

Even the Serpent Priest, the poor Serpent Priest.... he threw curses at the visible characters.

They all saved...

He threw Eldritch Bolts at Claire, she took no damage.... then promptly shot at the priest and hit!

Damage:   6+6 (+1).   Dice explode in Savage Showdown, so roll the 2d6 again.

6+5

and again for the final raise

3

Twenty-seven points to the priest was three wounds over maximum, and he failed his feeble attempt to try. 

These cultists stood no chance, with none standing turn four, when LePage emerged from the well with the artifact. 

Maja's die rolling might have been the most most impressive thing I've seen someone do over the age of ten.  She made all but one of her rolls, which she used a Benny to re-roll, and each time she hit she rolled close to maximum damage each time.  Meanwhile, the cultists were rolling just below average and couldn't catch a break.  

We don't know William's backstory, but he might think pulp adventuring is a relaxing vacation. 

I had the pleasure of having my daughter over the Thanksgiving weekend, and I'm proud to say, the first visit as a licensed driver!  Her mother and I did run escort duty for her first visit, she driving behind Maja halfway down, and me taking her the second half of the way.  She shopped, visited friends, and was super excited to drive me down to my college buddies (+25 years) SATLOF.   

Maja completing this episode means her younger sister, Millie, has one, maybe two more scenarios until the campaign moves to Egypt.

After the game, I introduced her to Fishing28 to play while I got ready to go to a get-together with some college friends.  She approves of the system, provided some optional rules, and determined Tropical Fruit Swedish Fish are sub-par. 

Maja knew her drive was consisted of (a) a trip to her grandmothers in Easton, followed by a (b) a drive to the other side of Allentown for SATLOF.  Knowing I needed to do two things around my mother's house, and it's a home of a chronic smoker, I chose a detour to take up extra time. 

The Lehigh and Keystone Model Railroad Club open house in Bethlehem. 

From their website.  It was an all-Steam weekend.

Maja used to be my little train show companion... engineer hat, a million questions, and begging me to do the train races...

From the Allentown Train Show parking lot, 2013

We've only managed one show post-COVID, so I was worried about the weird surprise I was directing her to.  

She might be a teenager, but the second she realized the L&K recreates the Lehigh Valley Railroad (and Reading, and CNJ) and she knew all the locations, it was like she was tiny all over...  

I heartily recommend visiting the club during one of their open houses, it's fantastic.

Finally, after my mom's we headed to SATLOF, and none of my back-up games were necessary, as Steve (the host... Squiggles the Worm in our Gamma World games) had gone to PAX and picked up the complete set of Thunder Road: Vendetta with all the bells and whistles! 

Another hearty recommendation, we had ages 5 to 51 playing it, it was raucous and exciting... even if all three of my cars crashed into rocks! 

Next: Pulp Season 4, Episode 5:

Dave's Train Corner and the Other Three Corners of the World

For those dear new readers... and those who are out of the loop... let's catch things up 

1.) After almost three years, the official divorce decree is finally signed, sealed, and after a month to travel two miles, delivered. 

2.) The girls had moved to upstate New York with their mother back in June.   Instead of multiple sports, Maja (16) is focusing on volleyball, Millie (14) is still dedicated to her first love, basketball.

Friday:  I had figured out that I was driving up to the ex's apartment between Albany and Saratoga the following Friday, see Millie play JV, share some pizza and crash on the couch, maybe even play a game or two.

Then I got the text message.  "You are coming up for her game tonight, right?  You need directions?"

Communication was one our problems back in the day...   Me caving in to requests was another.  

So, by 12:45 I was in the car ready to go... after my weekly stop at Dollar Tree.  Nothing too crazy in the Christmas or Toy section, although I was confused to find SALES? at Dollar Tree?  I understood the Tortilla Chips that expired that same day (but were great for my Mexican dish Saturday night), but arts & crafts stuff for 50 cents or a quarter?  Win!  I also snagged a small handled x-acto knockoff for $1.50, with six different blades!  

It has been a long time since I went that far north into New York state.  In my 4-hour drive,  I did learn that the Baseball Hall of Fame is within day-trip driving.  North of Albany?  A little rougher.   And despite the preponderance of Mirabito gas stations, I-88 just feels like a remote wasteland, even though you're 10 minutes away from the next exit. 

Good thing I didn't get there late.  She started for JV and it was 18-0 within 4 minutes.  Time for the JV B-Team to dominate playing time... and with A-Team helping her and there, they won 47-18. 

Her stat line wasn't too impressive, 1 point, 1 rebound, 4 assists, 2 steals, 0 turnovers, but the team ran through her, and everybody was happy.  

I drove her to her house, pizza consumed.  Millie crashed, and I got to spend time with Maja before making my couch bed and binging Death by Lightning.  Sure, certain liberties were made, but I want a Death by Lightning 2: More Music! More Fighting! More Sausages! 

Saturday:  The reason I had not planned on coming up this Friday?  First off, it was on every schedule as a scrimmage, and that's a bigger crap shoot than a game.  Plus Maja was leaving Saturday morning for a travel volleyball tournament in Boston.   The good news is her games weren't till the late afternoon, so I managed to wake them up and hang up before driving back to Wilkes-Barre.  Thankfully the weather helped out... although I swear the rest stops on the Thruway were so much more awesome back in the day.  

I did get home early enough to catch some of the junior high games from the girls' old school.  They happen to play five minutes away, and I supported most of the girls when I was part of the community rec league board, so it felt good to watch them succeed.  

Cut to the chase, the 8th grade program is in good hands, getting a blow out win and a last second win over the weekend.    The 7th grade team, like many first time school ball programs, tend to get in their own way.  Unfortunately the coach has them at the bottom of their priorities, and lack of basketball sense reigns supreme.  

Game one:  21-8.   Take away the 12 points the other team scored on stealing the inbound and scoring... SIX TIME IN A ROW BEFORE SHE CALLED A TIMEOUT?   9-8.

Game two:  Subbing in a wild "fresh" player who resulted in a missed assignment, two turnovers, and a technical foul for running onto the court in the middle of an active play?  

Let's just say the parents of both grades are not impressed.... which has been an ongoing theme for years.  If history continues, those 24 girls might have 5 make it to Freshman or JV next year, and that explains why the Varsity is playing five girls against D-level talent to 50 point victories, while current JV twiddles their thumbs.   I've already seen some issues with Maja and volleyball, so I don't have full confidence in basketball quite yet, but I do have hope.  

Sunday: A free Sunday, a little more junior high basketball, church, and a trip to the Hudson Model Railroad Club for part of their holiday Open House.  I've taken the kids there a bunch of times, but as a free agent this year, and during a lightly attended day, I roamed the layout, focusing on weathering techniques on the cars and flocking and ballast choices on the scenery (I swear they used Army Painter yellow flowers for fill the flower beds at the one station).  The one advantage of going by myself?  I had the patience to sit back and observe one of the club members realistically move an Amtrak engine out of the roundhouse and hook up with the passenger train in the distant yard, at scale speed.  

One of the trains was a series of centerbeam flatcars, advertising all the sponsors of the club.  

Dave's Train Corner in Edwardsville caught my eye.  Not only is that within my normal sphere of travel, it's right down the sidewalk where the now-defunct Tactical Advantage Games used to be. 

It's not a full review, as I don't usually review train shops, but we lost Dragon Knight games this summer, and with Walter's Hardware in Wilkes-Barre for my glue and scenery needs closing this year as well, I desperately needed a local shop that was a few miles a way rather than always the 12-mile round trip to the mall. 

The store mostly handles HO-scale, with a section of models, as well as some anime-inspired stuff.    Definitely some cheap O-scale Plasticville stuff I might want to grab for a game later, but they certainly check off my two required boxes. 

1. A full line of Woodland Scenic flocking and ballast, and very competitive prices. 
2. ZAP... A... FREAKING... GAP!

I'm pretty solid on my shelf o' flock, but a short drive for more makes my day.  I also have enough Zap-a-Gap for the winter, but I grabbed a smaller bottle for precise projects (and my bottles are getting a bit "unwieldy).  

So, for now, I' m prepping more time up in Albany after Millie's game THIS Friday, maybe even a holiday game or two...   

Also, sometime this past week, I rolled over the 2 MILLION page view mark.  The last million has been plagued with some of the worst bot attacks, so I won't scream upon the mountain tops.  I did take a look at my top ten posts from the 2024-25 year, and most have calmed down to levels where I can call organic levels. 

(GURPS) Eric Jacobson, Gamified - Year Fifteen

I am in zero part of the holiday spirt.  Traditions have a sense of purpose, so it makes sense to continue one of the long-standing holiday traditions of the blog:  gamifying my on-again off-again dream journal, and translating them into character points for a GURPS (3rd Edition) version of myself.  I've been doing things this way for over 30 years, and the dream version of myself isn't some glorified super-hero...

It's Tom Arnold character from True Lies (Albert Gibson).... and this year he's a little more tired than normal.

I'm also amused to find the Netflix series FUBAR was an unofficial follow-up to True Lies, and they did have Tom Arnold in it as Norm, an interrogator. 

After the last couple of years, turning into an interrogator sounds soothing.

ST: 10 DX: 11  IQ: 13  HT: 12

Advantages:  Charisma +2 (I'm a heckuva guy), Common Sense, Luck, Voice, Light Hangover (50)

Disadvantages:  Bloodlust, Near-Sightedness, Gluttony, Stubborness, Sense of Duty (Friends) (-35), Dependents (Family),  Enemy: Cabal of the Latter-Day Saints.

Quirks: Always wears a hat (I don't know why this one disappeared, it always was a quirk on my original avatar character that this developed from.  Aversion to big bugs.

Skills:  Skills in bold received points, but not increase.  Bold with a (+) indicates an increase in skill.  New skills to the list for this year are in bold with (New).  Not exactly rocket sciences

Acrobatics   9 
Accounting 11 
Acting 13 
Administration 21 +    
Animal Handling 11 
Anthropology 11 
Archaeology 10 
Area Knowledge: Baltimore 11
Area Knowledge: Iceland 13 
Area Knowledge: Lehigh Valley 14 
Area Knowledge: New York City 13
Area Knowledge: South Africa 13
Area Knowledge: Michigan Upper Peninsula 11
Bard 20 (let me...entertain you!)
Bicycling 11
Boating 9
Boxing 10
Brawling 13
Camouflage 14
Carousing 12
Climbing 10
Club 11
Computer Ops 14 
Conspiracy Theory 11
Cryptography 10
Dancing 10
Demolitions 12
Diplomacy 13
Drive Tractor Trailer 11
Drive: motorcycle 9
Driving: Auto 15 
Driving: Diesel Locomotive 11
Engineering 12
Economics 12
Electronics   11  
Electronics Operation  11 
English 14    
Fast Talk 14+
First Aid 13
Forensics 12
Forgery 10
French 12
Geology 10
Guns: Pistol 15 
Guns: Rifle 14
Guns: SMG 13
Hiking 11
History 17
Hobby gaming 14
Hobby: Models 12
Intel Analysis 11
Interrogation 11 

Intimidation 13
Judo 9
Law 12
Leadership 13 
Literature 10 (New)
Mathematics 10
Mechanic   11
Merchant 11
Meteorology 11
Naturalist 10
Navigate 10
Occultism 14
Performance 13
Physician  10   
Pilot: Jetpack   9 
Politics 14
Psychology 11  
Punning 11
Running 13
Savoir Faire 17
Saxophone 12
Scrounging 13
Sex Appeal 15

Shadowing  11  
Sport: Basketball 10
Sport: Football 9
Sport: Golf 11
Sport: Ice Skating 8

Sport: Softball 9  (NEW)
Sport: Volleyball 9
Stealth 12 
Strategy 11 
Streetwise 11
Survival: Mountains 12
Survival: NBC 13
Swimming 10
Tactics 13
Taxidermy 11  
Theology 11  
Wrestling 12+

324.5 Points

It's been a rough year for good sleep.  Cinematic bit character me has not become a master interrogator (especially since I already have a point in the skill), just staying in share, joining the agency softball team, and getting some time in the NYC field office.  

(Painting) Undead Gnome Pirate with Knife for Gnome Wars

Still alternating between random figures on my painting bench, and figures fitting for Christmas... (or Christmas in July).  

Today is one of the Gnome Pirates for Gnome Wars from Brigade Games, the useful Undead Gnome Pirate!   Somebody needs to retrieve Lucky Lon when he's shot off, spinning like a top, across the board.  

As of the time of this posting, the Pirates are not currently available.  

(Gnome Wars) Say Hi to the Princesses for Me!

Although they were never properly statted out, did you know Brigade Games actually produced Princess Gnomes for a short time? 

They were produced a bit after the Americans were released.  My only point of reference is that when Maja was around three, we were using the female medic/nun/Florence Nightingale as a stand-in princess for our games. 

We'll be integrating them in to the Historicon Mega-Game.  Helpless captives, or royalty gone feral, leading their own tribe? 

In the Queue - It's beginning to look like Reaper Christmas minis, a few more Gnomes, and continuing to work on the Soviet females... and Tomb of the Serpent filler figures.

Project: 350 -   Not tracking during the holiday week cures my fragile ego, as the backlog drops significantly to 470 (279 drafts/191 scheduled) from 482 (283/199) way back on the 21st of November.  Probably will follow up right before the holiday post deluge, which is followed up by the #CharacterCreationChallenge in January, one of the months (along with August) that I don't track my productivity. 

(Gnome Wars) Cascadia and the Dual Columbias

It's been a good long while since I've added any Gnomish History to the page.  As a reminder, please consider all this positive fluff to add to your game, but it's certainly unofficial.

And all this is inspired by a lone Union Gnome figure left in a box that needed to be painted... differently.

Cascadia and the Dual Histories: 1836-1910

The 1830's brought expansion to the Pacific Northwest.  At the beginning  of the American Uncivil War, there was a well-timed onset of the Gnomish Wanderlust that brought thousands from American soil across the continent to peace, independence, and prosperity in a land called Columbia.  Around the same time, the British mercantile expansion finally hit the Canadian side of the Pacific, establishing some largely self-supporting trading posts and an independent navy.    As the German-American War drained assets across everyone's empires, the British Columbia politely snubbed their colonial ties from of any remaining tax revenue, and formally gained their own independence from Britain in 1900

• Columbia:  Its settlers emphasized industry, trade, and exploration, establishing a network of interior river towns and forest outposts. Columbia’s culture reflected a rugged but kind practicality, with towns clustered along rivers and fertile valleys, and its society influenced by a mixture of the Northern and Southern practicalities.  Columbia units prior to 1907 should be Northern American Gnomes with a mixture of Midnight Blue and even Black uniforms.
• British Columbia: Very quickly, this colony shed it's direct allegiance to, if not the name.  Their interior was largely untouched, focusing only on lumber to fuel the shipbuilding industry, to support the powerful fishing concerns, and continue to grow a sizable navy.  British Columbian units should use British Marines with a darker red for land forces, and a powder blue for naval marines. 

The Columbia Civil War (1905)

Despite peacefully coexisting for decades with the lack of any formal treaties, or even basic acknowledgement of each other, things came to a head in 1905.  Tensions around trade routes, both water and land, resource control (particularly a "Gem Rush" around the border), and long competing visions of the region led to the brief but intense Columbia Civil War.

Lasting only 18 months, it largely consisting of skirmishes along contested areas.  Neither side wanted to levy an army from an unwilling populace, and general malaise and exhaustion quickly led to the both sides meeting and accomplishing far more than a cease fire or a peace treaty.    

The Cascadian Public Safety Force 1907-1910 (present)

Neither side could see any reasons not to benefit from both sides of Greater Columbia.  They formed the Cascadian Confederation to secure their borders with crazy Californians and Mormons to the south, Russian aggression from Alaska, and to maintain a steady influence to avoid native incursions from the east. 

The Cascadian Confederation adopted the more efficient bureaucratic systems of British Columbia to the confederate towns and regions of Columbia.  It's not perfect solution, but neither was fighting nearly identical gnomes in the same area.

Former military units for both sides were reorganized into the Cascadia Public Safety Force (CPSF).  Their domestic visibility was highlighted in bright orange uniforms to promote them as Keepers of the Public Trust & Health.  While not properly documented, it would not be surprising if the CPSF forces in fortresses along the California border also have an all-black Columbia uniform in their lockers, just in case their forces are required to cross the border. 

Get Your Christmas Lists In Now!

 

(Gamma World) Not a Test #100 - The Wedding of Lathar and Thunnelda

You are all invited to Riverbend, to celebrate the wedding between Thunnelda Haycock to Lathar Bracken.

================= 

Lathar Bracken: A pure-strain human from River Bend.  He's got the muscle, the face, and a mount for most encounters.  Lathar's trusty beast of burden, No Name, travels wherever he does.   Looking for trouble in all the right places. The two-time champion of the Fair-Town Queen's Joust.

Thunnelda Haycock:  A peculiar local woman, who has a penchant for wandering the surrounding territories for particular oddities, but has become the fiancé of Lathar. She is a day away from marrying the man of her dreams, Lathar.

Sneaky Pete: A mutated weasel scout.  Pete's telepathy and night vision take a backseat when he whips out his electrical powers.  Apparently addicted to his newly uncovered yellow powder found at "The Pool House"

Sonny Helianthus: a nearly 10' tall sentient sunflower artifact examiner with four arms, and trusted Restorationist ties. Knowledgeable,  but not a good one with device repairs or upgrades. 

Slitheran Wurmtail (aka Squiggles): a mutated earthworm scout, in impromptu power armor, looking for trouble in all the wrong places,  and finding it often.   He  has been subject to genetic testing and developed super-human strength, a more human body, and a thick coat of shaggy white hair.  He may be pregnant... again!

Ramsay: Mutant Ram, traveling from KIA Academy to reunite with his fellow explorers for the wedding. 

RHA-9:   Living Metal used in research experiments.  Abandoned by the De Facto Explorers when they escaped KIA Academy.

Friar Spiess:  The mysterious Pure-Strain human mentor to Lathar from back in the day.  Arriving in town today to conduct the wedding. 

================================================================

Lathar woke up with the taste of old goat in his mouth, regret in his throbbing head, and the two sharp pains from his buttocks.  His first sight was RHA-9's  lit-up yellow eyes looming over him.

RHA-9: “Greetings, groom-unit. You were unconscious. I remained vigilant.”

Lathar rubbed his eyes, still uncomfortable, and very naked on the couch.

RHA-9: “I already injected you with a refreshing electrolyte solution to reduce post-fermentation biological distress?”

Lathar: “Just—get me my damn clothes.”

-------------------------------

Meanwhile, across town, Thunnelda was in full bride-mode panic.

Her sister-in-law and  Gretka, the local teen with a green thumb, and who was only supposed to deliver the flowers this morning, were fussing over her. The new wedding dress, hastily repaired and adjusted overnight, was being draped over her frame as  Gretka aggressively tried to do anything with her hair..

Thunnelda: “Where’s my bouquet?”

Gretka: “The flowers are right here...."

Thunnelda: “The GOOD bouquet. Not the one that smells like old radscorpion and goat feces.”

The young girl fidgeted.

Thunnelda: "You lost it."

Gretka: “I DID NOT lose it! It just... moved.”

Cue another cutaway, this time to one of Drogo's goats,  happily munching on the missing bouquet outside the town walls.

Thunnelda’s eye twitched. “Fine. We’ll make another. Where’s the officiant?”

Her sister-in-law pretended to peak out the window.... "Not here..." 

The lovely Thunnelda Haycock

The Arrival of Friar Spiess

Upriver from town, a  large, stoic, solitary man worked his way towards Riverbend.   He's robes covered much of him, and a greatsword strapped to his back. 

This was Friar Spiess, the original mentor of Lathar, whom Lathar personally invited from his distant monastery of pure-strain humans to officiate the wedding.

Friar Spiess, the Pure-Strain Monk of the Unbroken Line

Lathar's relatives, the Bone Cracker Clan had set up camp far upriver of the town, and were engaged in some raucous sport involving a ball and a lot of tackling.  Only one of the of the cousins took noticed of the imposing figure.   Even though the Friar could not detect a hint of corruption from the glow... from any of them, not all pure-strained humans were worthy to be in his presence.  Lathar was obviously the exception to this family....

He began to pass the farms on the outskirts of town, getting closer to Lathar's house.  He scoffed at the scene of a group of... human-like worms.... dressed to the nines, inside what he could only guess was an old pig stye.   The world was different out here....

He finally got inside the flimsy palisade protecting the town and reached a small house just inside.  The clapboard is yellow and pealing, the half-rotting fence surrounding the abode, and keeping within the a host of oddities and junk.  The monk pushed the gate open and within a few steps, was accosted by an angry peacock.  

Friar Spiess deftly avoided the bird's peckings, and knocked on the door.  

Chambray, Lathar's peacock

The Reunion

Lathar certainly looked older to the monk, after many years apart.  The fact that he had a piece of Living Metal peering over his shoulder made Spiess smirk.

Lathar: "Friar Spiess, you made it!"

Friar Spiess: "You asked, I'm here. You've grown!" 

Lathar: "I have, but I have not forgotten all the lessons you've taught me...."

It was a barbaric place, full of the tainted, but if Lathar could maintain his composure in such a place, Friar Spiess would be respectful to his wishes.

Lathar Bracken

Friar Spiess: "What about this girl you've met?"

Lathar: "Listen, I'm looking forward to this wedding, but she can get antsy quick... I trust your judgement."

Friar Spiess: "I'll do what's proper... let's get you ready... but why does this house smell like drunken goat and turnip wine?”

A Very Pregnant Squiggles

Squiggles, ready to give birth, herded his children towards the clearing where the wedding was going to occur.  Most of them were going to be used a free labor, cooking food, serving drinks.  

Upriver from town, there was a sudden boom—a familiar, ominous sound.  As he neared the palisade gate, members of the Bone Cracker clan, Lathar's family, arrived, many naked, purple, and with burns the earthworm had seen previously on a plant. 

"Where did those people find a Boomfruit grenade?"  Squiggles asked himself.

Squiggles

The collection of chairs and bench out in the clearing were filling up with a number of folks.  Many of the townsfolk were there, some dignitaries from Fair-Town, the blue-skinned Kirothians had sent a delegation, none of whom Lathar had dated.  Even the animal domain known as Parr, across the Big River, had sent two otters.  

Most conspicuous was the arrival of Lathar's grandmother, Helka.  No one knew where she had run off to, but know she had returned, wearing spiny plate armor, trying to hold a silly vow to stay silent for her smartest grandchild's big day.  

As Lathar arrived, Friar Spiess by his side, Helka could focus on something other than Lathar's choice of bride. 

"Lathar, where'd you get the birthday cake?  Aren't you going to introduce us."

Friar Spiess knew he was in trouble, but she was pure-strain... and obviously worthy.

Grandma Helka, "The Iron Maw"

"When am I going to meet the bride?"  the monk asked again.

The rest of the De Facto Explorers arrived.  "Sneaky" Pete, a weasel with a derby, a mandolin, and oddly yellow stained paws and snout. 

"Sneaky" Pete

And a nine and a half foot tall sunflower, with four arms, reading the flimsy book of the Ancients oblivious to everything else going on.  

Dr Sonny Helianthus, during shorter times (with only two limbs)

The Short-Short Version

Friar Speiss did spy Thunnelda, the dear bride, working her way down the aisle.  As she reached her groom, the monk decided the celebration needed to start early.

"Do you?" he asked Thunnelda.

"Yes?" 

He turned to Lathar, "Do you?"

"Yes!"

"Good, you're married." 

Thunnelda did know if she wanted to be happy or sad with the egregious brevity this strange man had married them.  

Pete was the first to compose himself, strumming his mandolin and singing the song he wrote for them.

"Hinged Together"

Verse 1
Oh, Thunnelda, you’re the strength that I need,
Like the iron on these hinges, you’re steady indeed.
When the world is breaking, you hold your line,
Just a girl from Riverbend, forever entwined.

Chorus
We’re hinged together, swingin’ free,
From the east to the west, it’s just you and me.
Every open door, every closing sound,
Thunnelda and Lathar, where love’s unbound.

Verse 2
With the rust and the grind of life’s heavy door,
You’ve taught me to fight, you’ve shown me there’s more.
These hinges might creak, and they’ll sometimes bend,
But with you, Thunnelda, they’ll never end.

Bridge
Through battles and storms, and glow-sickness too,
I’ll hold strong to these hinges, and I’ll hold on to you.
From broken bolts to splintered wood,
With each turn of the key, love’s understood.

Chorus
We’re hinged together, swingin’ free,
From the east to the west, it’s just you and me.
Every open door, every closing sound,
Thunnelda and Lathar, where love’s unbound.

Verse 3
So here’s to the hinges that hold us tight,
To the doors we’ve opened in the dead of night.
My Thunnelda, my anchor, my iron grace,
Together, forever, in our hinge-embrace.

Outro
Yeah, we’re hinged together, swingin’ free,
With the strength of love, that nobody sees.
From the first creak to the last soft sound,
Thunnelda and Lathar—forever bound.

Half-way through, Sonny took notice to the music, and pulled out his own makeshift mandolin.

As the bride and groom moved over to the food and drink, guest were still arriving, including Justinian and his entourage from the Restorationists.  

And as Thunnelda and Lathar had their first dance, there was a prominent "SPLURT" near one of the tables. 

Squiggles gave birth to her children, all 174 of them....

"My wedding gift to you.... some wedding release butterflies, some release doves... you guys get 174 baby worms."

Squiggles and his older children stopped everything and collected the newest children, and took them to the safety of the shed at Farmer Yulius' farm. 

Once the songs and dances were complete, and somehow, put sawdust over the site of the worm delivery, Pete presented a wrapped gift to the happy couple.

And incredibly ornate hinge that Pete commissioned for them .

It was enough to bring a tear to both of them.

The wedding, the turnip wine, the many many goats, and the celebration oddly went off without a hitch.  It might be the most successful, most memorable wedding of all time in Riverbend. 

A few things came to light post-wedding:

• Friar Spiess survived the amorous assault by Grandma Helka
• Sonny hung out with his brethren, the Restorationists.  Even he noticed a new treasure of the ancients around the neck of Luna, a recent addition to the organization.  The items, "headphones" attach to a communication box she uncovered as she wandered the Glow Zones, at least two days travel past the old Hisser village across the Big River.  Sounds like some more R&R is needed to recover but they may not return immediately to their "Pool Room"
• Pete did amazingly well conversing with the Otter representatives from Parr.  Other adventure leads might be in their future.
• Friar Spiess finally took a moment to look at poor Pete and his strange addiction to a the dark-yellow powder.  The man chuckled when he realized the weasel was addicted to... yellow curry powder.

Finally, Lathar and Thunnelda, road off on No-Name into the woods, to set up a campsite and spend a few days together.  It was that time when Thunnelda finally admitted that she was already pregnant... and Lathar was the father.

GM Notes: It's fitting that a big wedding occurs during the 100th episode of the campaign.

Next:  #101 - Eclipsing Luna