Lost Dispatches of Feraso #56 - The Insufferable Talanth Blackash and Company

DM Notes:  At this point, the Lost Dispatches of Feraso have chronicled all my D&D gaming through December 1993.  The story of Talanth Blackash and his nefarious company of adventurers is certainly over.  Elsderth is going to help tell the story of other adventuring parties that graced my parents' dining room table from 1994-1999

I do have character sheets for Celeste and Ned Overland somewhere, but the rest all lost forever. 

In the course of retracing the steps of these PCs, I've done my best to document the magic items they had acquired.

The Unscrupulous Talanth Blackash and His Crew

Talanth Blackash 6th/7th Fighter/Thief (played by Charles)

Cloak of Elvinkind - leather +1, bardiche, shortsword +1, dagger +2 ROP +1

Odmusson - 7th Level Fighter "Drunken Warrior"  (played by Scott)
 AC:0 

Shield +2, +1 longsword of obviousness, ring of water walking, Chain Mail +2,

Colgredd - 7th Level Ranger "Stupid Ranger" (played by Scott)
AC: 0  

Elven Chain Mail +1 - Broadsword +2, Shield +1

Alleged description of the Drunken Warrior and the Stupid Ranger

Ned Overland:  5th Level Fighter  (played by Wooly)

dagger +1

Derlenth: 5th Level Cleric  (played by Darryl)

Celeste 5th Level Cleric (played by my sister, Mary)

Mace +1 Golden Armor of General Balfas (from her time with the Order of Merit).

Thendara Wandsregal 12th Level Magic User - aka "The Busty Mage" (played by George)
Location: Wandsregal Tower, outside the village of Mechitbayeva, Hermetus.

Bracers of Defense AC3 - Robe of Useless Items. two daggers+3, Wand of Polymorphing. Amulet of the Planes. Ring of Protection +2
Spellbook: Burning Hands, Charm Person, Hold Portal, Jump Darkness 15' rad, mirror image, hold person, lightning bolt, dimension door, wall of force, fireball, and a host of other spells.

Next: #57-  Alert at the Moathouse.

Santa Claus 40k

To Those Who Will Make it in Hockey only in NHL19

Things have been crazy enough that I haven't even been able to distract myself with hockey on the xBox.

Just about a season and a half into franchise mode for the Seattle Dragons (Boise Ice Drakes) and I've mastered the mid-range difficulty.  Every once in awhile the AI blows me out in spectacular fashion, but so long as I land hits on opposing players, I'm able to keep up,

As the probability of the game is wont to do, I suffered a flurry of injuries at both the NHL and AHL levels, just enough to mess up my normal call-ups.

This has forced me to call up Patrick McGrath for his first NHL-ever game, which would never happen in real life.

In real-life, Pat McGrath was the local-kid-done-good for our local AHL farm team.  His skills more atuned to the ECHL level of hockey, his local ties and penchant for hitting opposing players in the face with his first made him a fan favorite.  He didn't score much, got scratched from the line-up often, but boy did he sell t-shirts and create standing-room only events out of signings.

Except that last season, the team's coach resigned, and the team literally stole away the 2019 Calder Cup winning coach and goalie mere weeks after winning it all.  Pat was not offered a contract and ended up playing the same role for the Utah Grizzlies of the ECHL (farm team for the Colorado Eagles and Colorado Avalanche).

When I built my expansion team, my lack of knowledge on quality Estonian hockey players in the Canucks organization (and elsewhere) forced me rely on signing available current (and former) Penguins.  The Carl Hagelins and Tommy Kühnhackls have fared well in Seattle, and the a lot of AHL penguins fill Boise's roster.

But with that rash of injuries, the most veteran (and competent) Right Winger to call up the NHL was one Pat McGrath.

I love flip-flopping my 4th line between rookies and grinders, and with a weakened roster, grinders were all I had, so fit in perfectly, and got a good eight minutes of neutral ice time.

Until, of course, up two goals against them with a minute left, the opponent pulled the goalie... with my 4th line out there. 

A few seconds of extra-man chaos later, the Dragons got possession of the puck, drove up the left side under pressure, and eeked out a dribble of a pass to McGrath in center ice to seal the win with an empty netter.

He was more excited to get to that first shift in his NHL career, but his memorable first goal was last one. 

He was sent down to Boise before morning skate the next day, and will probably never return to Seattle under normal circumstances, but until he retires in the game, at least NHL19 Patrick McGrath will have NHL stats:  1 G 0 A 1Pt  2 PIM.

(GURPS) Eric, Gamified Yet Again

It's now eight years, and with my long nights and crazy schedule, I've eschewed the traditional dream diary or simply forgetting my dreams and turned them into character points for a GURPS (3rd Edition) version of myself I set up almost 30 years ago (The Red Dawn rip-off games were horrible... horribly awesome!)

I continue develop into Tom Arnold's character Albert Gibson in a post-True Lies timeline. 

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: LDS Cabal

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

Acrobatics 8 

Accounting 11
Acting 13
Administration 19
Animal Handling 11
Anthropology 11
Archaeology 10
Area Knowledge: Baltimore 11
Area Knowledge: Iceland 13
Area Knowledge: Lehigh Valley 14
Area Knowledge: Michigan Upper Peninsula 11
Area Knowledge: New York City 13
Area Knowledge: South Africa 13
Bard 20 (let me...entertain you!)
Bicycling 11
Boating 9
Boxing 10
Brawling 13
Camouflage 14
Carousing 12
Climbing 10
Club 11
Computer Ops 13
Conspiracy Theory 11
Cryptography  10
Dancing 10
Demolitions 12
Diplomacy 13
Drive Tractor Trailer 11
Drive: motorcycle 9
Driving: Auto 14
Driving: Diesel Locomotive 11
Economics 11
Engineering 12
English 14
Fast Talk 13
First Aid 13
Forensics 12
Forgery 10
French 12
Geology 10
Guns: Pistol 14
Guns: Rifle 14
Guns: SMG 13
Hiking 11
History 17
Hobby gaming 14
Hobby: Models 12
Intell Analysis 11
Interrogation 11
Judo 9
Law 12
Leadership 12
Literature 10 (New)
Mathematics 10
Mechanic
Merchant 11
Meteorology 11
Naturalist 10
Navigate 10
Occultism 14
Performance 13
Physician
Politics 14
Psychology 10
Punning 11
Running 13
Savoir Faire 17
Saxophone 12
Scrounging 13
Sex Appeal 15
Sport: Basketball 10
Sport: Football 9
Sport: Golf 11
Sport: Ice Skating 8
Sport:Volleyball 9
Stealth 12 +
Strategy 11 +
Streetwise 11
Survival: Mountains 12
Survival: NBC 13
Swimming 10
Tactics 13
Taxidermy 11 (New)
Theology 11  +
Wrestling 10

So, this secret agent persona has taken on Mormon cultists (maybe worse???), overseen operations, and been the mouthpiece for many a news conference or motivational speech to the agents.  Perhaps I'm a director of some small (or obscure) branch in the intelligence field?  Those guys always have a weird hobby like Literature or Taxidermy or building a boat in their basement.  With a lot more points going into Admin and Driving, maybe I'm overseeing some sensitive surveillance, or overseeing (re: stopping) car chases. 

287.5 points

(Kickstarter) The Gingerbread Gang

The folks that brought you War in Christmas Village have re-launched a previously cancelled Kickstarter for the latest addition to the line:  The Gingerbread Gang.

(Kickstarter) Waylaid by Bandits Vol 2 by Midlam Miniatures

Midlam Miniatures has launched their 20th (!) Kickstarter, Waylaid by Bandits Vol 2.

Mandatory Basketball Rant - Week 4

And on the fourth week, ViscountEric rested.  With the exception of a quick trip to the league president's house to drop off my daughter for a sleepover with his daughter's, I've not handled any issues with a wide range of scheduling problems.  Mondays and Tuesdays will solve themselves after this week, extra practices will get squeezed in later in the season, and once snow days start closing the schools, our mid-week practices won't hold an advantage.

The girls, on the other, did get plenty of quality practice time with their two-on-one sessions with their coach, Mia.  Three hours of drills early in the week nearly wiped them out for Thanksgiving!

With this past Sunday travel team game at the Kingston Rec cancelled due all the ice and sleet, the only other basketball related activity was sometime on Saturday when we all visited my mother at the old ancestral manse in Easton.  My sister and brother-in-law came up from Philly, and it was a decent visit, but by the end we all needed some time outside before it got dark for some swings, some slides, and "Oh? Who put a basketball in the trunk?"

During my childhood, if  I wasn't in my backyard, or riding my bike, I was at this park.  Football and wiffleball were more my thing back then. Heck, the original surface of the basketball court was too small on the sides for a regulation three-point line!  Needless to say, things have been significantly improved upon over the years