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General Chatter - The Boozer / Re: Exilian Pub Out Of Context
« on: May 03, 2024, 08:41:35 PM »
"Then swallow at the right moment, which may or may not be a skill you have" - Jen
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Food Discussion - The Jolly Boar Kitchen / Re: What have you been eating?
« on: April 27, 2024, 08:36:13 PM »
It's more biscuit-y than anything really, it was a very soft dough
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Food Discussion - The Jolly Boar Kitchen / Re: What have you been eating?
« on: April 27, 2024, 09:44:24 AM »
For April, I decided to make something sweet (and just in the nick of time...): Svarlotka! This Polish apple cake is made using a dough, rather than a cake batter, to sandwich a delicious layer of sugary apple filling.
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Announcements! The Town Crier! / Re: Hibernation Creative Competition - The Showcase!
« on: April 22, 2024, 10:07:12 AM »
Really really pleased by the news and the lovely comments from the judges, thank you! I love the wide range of types of entry this year - the entrants certainly embraced the flexible nature of a creative competition!
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General Gaming - The Arcade / Re: What digital games are you playing?
« on: April 16, 2024, 04:07:19 PM »
I purchased a copy of Tyranny myself when it went on sale recently, and am looking forward to trying it out when I get the time! A fair few games I'd had wishlisted on Steam recently went on sale, so I've acquired them too. They include a game recommended to me by my father, Sinking City. Interestingly, and in a strange contrast to most other games, he found that the longer it went on, the more interested/involved he got with it, and the more he enjoyed it. I had a brief play around to see how it worked when visiting him a few weeks ago, and thought it was quite interesting, so we'll see what a proper playthrough yields!
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Writing, Poems, AARs, and Stories - The Storyteller's Hall / Re: What are you reading?
« on: April 16, 2024, 04:03:42 PM »
Quick update: I finished Bone Shard War, which I thought was very good, although the first in that series remains my favourite.
I've also since read Silence of the Girls, which is an interesting telling of the Classical tale of the war with Troy, from the perspective of Briseis and focusing on the fates of the women and girls involved in it all. I've read a few similar sorts of books in the last year or two, and enjoy them thoroughly. I can happily recommend this one!
Has anyone else read Fourth Wing? I'd not heard of it, though it's apparently gaining popularity very quickly. A friend recommended it, and I went out to get a copy over the weekend. I finished it in my lunch break today and have to say, it was very fun. All about dragon riders, if anyone is interested!
I've also since read Silence of the Girls, which is an interesting telling of the Classical tale of the war with Troy, from the perspective of Briseis and focusing on the fates of the women and girls involved in it all. I've read a few similar sorts of books in the last year or two, and enjoy them thoroughly. I can happily recommend this one!
Has anyone else read Fourth Wing? I'd not heard of it, though it's apparently gaining popularity very quickly. A friend recommended it, and I went out to get a copy over the weekend. I finished it in my lunch break today and have to say, it was very fun. All about dragon riders, if anyone is interested!
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Forum Games - The Beer Cellar! / Re: Riddles in the Dark of Exilian
« on: April 11, 2024, 02:57:55 PM »
So I found this while browsing for possible riddles to put into an upcoming DnD game. I am terrible at riddles and don't have a good guess but I'll post some thoughts and maybe someone smarter than me will spot this and take a stab:
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
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General Chatter - The Boozer / Re: April Pub - could be an issue? Could be in May?
« on: April 11, 2024, 02:50:00 PM »
I'd be happy to volunteer as a lynchpin for the first couple of hours of an April pub if it were on the 25th/26th, but would likely need to head off before things would naturally wind down. Any volunteers for a second half lynchpin? I realise that's not especially helpful...
Otherwise I'm happy with a double May pub and can make both the 3rd and 31st as far as I know!
Otherwise I'm happy with a double May pub and can make both the 3rd and 31st as far as I know!
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Tabletop Design - The Senet House / Ideas needed for a multi-level dungeon
« on: April 09, 2024, 02:39:08 PM »
I'm coming here in the hope that the wonderful community of Exilian can help me prepare an upcoming dungeon crawl in my DnD campaign (first part of which will be running this Sunday, to give an idea of the initial timeframe for me to get my thoughts on this organised). I find myself woefully short of time and, apparently, ideas for this particular session!
To give some brief context, my party are embarking on a noble quest to free a powerful spellcaster who is trapped and whose assistance they need. She is held captive by a powerful spell that requires two halves of a 'key' to unlock. The first half of the key is held in an underground complex designed to prevent the key being obtained. To add some complexity (and interesting monsters!), there is also a rift inside this area that has been allowing creatures etc to slip into the world from the Shadowfell. The area has long since been abandoned by the people who initially trapped the spellcaster, but it is still protected by whatever magical (or other) safeguards they left there.
In short, I need to prepare what I am hoping will be a relatively in-depth dungeon crawl for this underground complex, to challenge my players on their way to retrieve the first half of the key. I am considering pilfering the map of one (or more) levels from Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage, and populating it with suitable puzzles/monsters/traps to challenge my players, but if anyone has better sources for an interesting multi-level dungeon map (ideally that don't require me doing much artistically beyond dropping some assets on top of it), that would be gratefully received.
So, the request! Does anyone have any good ideas for puzzles, traps, encounters etc that make for an interesting dungeon crawl? Any and all suggestions welcome!
To give some brief context, my party are embarking on a noble quest to free a powerful spellcaster who is trapped and whose assistance they need. She is held captive by a powerful spell that requires two halves of a 'key' to unlock. The first half of the key is held in an underground complex designed to prevent the key being obtained. To add some complexity (and interesting monsters!), there is also a rift inside this area that has been allowing creatures etc to slip into the world from the Shadowfell. The area has long since been abandoned by the people who initially trapped the spellcaster, but it is still protected by whatever magical (or other) safeguards they left there.
In short, I need to prepare what I am hoping will be a relatively in-depth dungeon crawl for this underground complex, to challenge my players on their way to retrieve the first half of the key. I am considering pilfering the map of one (or more) levels from Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage, and populating it with suitable puzzles/monsters/traps to challenge my players, but if anyone has better sources for an interesting multi-level dungeon map (ideally that don't require me doing much artistically beyond dropping some assets on top of it), that would be gratefully received.
So, the request! Does anyone have any good ideas for puzzles, traps, encounters etc that make for an interesting dungeon crawl? Any and all suggestions welcome!
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Writing, Poems, AARs, and Stories - The Storyteller's Hall / Re: What are you reading?
« on: April 04, 2024, 06:49:20 PM »
I finally also finished Lady of the Lake. I agree with pretty much everything you said about it really - once I started noticing how often odd sexual things cropped up, it really started to irk me, especially when it was completely unnecessary.
I've started playing the Witcher 3 again, to give myself some good Witcher vibes.
I am currently almost at the end of The Bone Shard War, the third part in a trilogy that I really really like, not least because of its excellent characters, interesting magic and good suspense building. Strongly recommend.
I've started playing the Witcher 3 again, to give myself some good Witcher vibes.
I am currently almost at the end of The Bone Shard War, the third part in a trilogy that I really really like, not least because of its excellent characters, interesting magic and good suspense building. Strongly recommend.
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Computer Game Development - The Indie Alley / Re: Devil's Hideout - horror point and click adventure - Kickstarter now live!
« on: April 04, 2024, 06:44:55 PM »
This looks interesting! I've not played much horror either but I like the sound of this!
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General Chatter - The Boozer / Re: Cute and Wholesome Picture Thread
« on: April 01, 2024, 11:22:11 AM »
Here are a few photos of my own to contribute, largely taken at a wildlife sanctuary in the Lincolnshire Wolds!
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Food Discussion - The Jolly Boar Kitchen / Re: What have you been eating?
« on: March 18, 2024, 11:40:12 AM »
So I decided I had better get on with making empanadas, given that March was half over, and made some beef and chorizo ones last night:
They turned out pretty well! If anyone has any suggestions for April, let me know!
They turned out pretty well! If anyone has any suggestions for April, let me know!
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Food Discussion - The Jolly Boar Kitchen / Re: What have you been eating?
« on: March 14, 2024, 06:15:52 PM »
Ooh that's a great idea! Thank you!
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Food Discussion - The Jolly Boar Kitchen / Re: What have you been eating?
« on: March 14, 2024, 05:44:42 PM »
I have set myself a food-related challenge for this year! I am attempting to make at least one dish in a style/cuisine that I haven't attempted before!
January went well, with Jubal providing me with the inspiration to choose Georgian cuisine for my first attempt. I made a nice cheese bread boat and a chicken stew that went well!
February was interesting: I chose Lebanese, on the recommendation of my future mother-in-law, whose family is Lebanese, and made a chickpea and spinach pie with lentils:
Sadly it's now halfway through March and I can't settle on something I want to make this month. Any suggestions for me? I've made a lot of Italian/Spanish dishes before, and a few Asian ones, but otherwise haven't branched out much (hence the challenge!)
January went well, with Jubal providing me with the inspiration to choose Georgian cuisine for my first attempt. I made a nice cheese bread boat and a chicken stew that went well!
February was interesting: I chose Lebanese, on the recommendation of my future mother-in-law, whose family is Lebanese, and made a chickpea and spinach pie with lentils:
Sadly it's now halfway through March and I can't settle on something I want to make this month. Any suggestions for me? I've made a lot of Italian/Spanish dishes before, and a few Asian ones, but otherwise haven't branched out much (hence the challenge!)