I got my gaming group together on Thursday night to give the Do: Pilgrims of the Flying Temple character generation a whirl. It went really well!

Daniel Solis (gobi) has been running a playtest of the character generation rules for Do, and my group graciously indulged me and agreed to give it a whirl on Thursday night. The group consisted of

mylescorcoran - Nomad/Hero - F
alaimacerc - Dreamer/Orphan - M
marzut - Dreamer/Runaway - F
Peter M - Warrior/Graduate - M
sammywol- Warrior/Castaway - F
irishkate - Noble/Fugitive - F

( Long description cut )

As I said, an excellent evening's entertainment and we were only making characters. If the actual play of the game in earnest is anything like last Thursday night I'd say Daniel has a winner on his hands.

Last night, after juggling two reluctant kids off to sleep, sammywol and I had a very pleasant evening with mizkit, chefted and irishkate. Tea and cake were consumed (note the passive voice to protect the identities of the culprits), and much badinage was indulged in.

So why is it I feel like death on defrost this morning? If I'd known I'd be like this in the morning last night I'd have hit the Laphroaig.

We're out at Supernova, Ballincollig, another of the several 'soft play' centres around Cork. This one is larger than the others and boasts an ice rink upstairs but after my last encounter with skates (inline rollers) years ago I'm not going anywhere near them.

Instead I'm watching Rowan and her old crechemate, Alex, scoot about the place in a state of high excitement, climbing on and jumping off EVERYTHING. I'm exhausted just watching them.

Another family Sunday. Home later to wrap up my zine for A&E and collapse.

We spent the weekend down the country with the in-laws, ensconced in the
sleepy valley of the Argideen river. Sleepy that is apart from the angry
hornet sounds of rally cars racing along the valley, taking part in the West
Cork Annual Rally. Rowan turns out to be a bit of a petrol-head and insisted
on being brought down the lane to observe the passing rally cars as they
rounded the bend by the bridge. Perhaps she was keen on the chip van that
accompanied the general crowd of viewers.

Later in the day we went into Clonakilty to watch the parade. We were
misinformed about the starting time, but that only meant we had to go to an
ice cream parlour. We HAD to you, honest.

Rowan enjoyed the parade, which was typically small town; a collection of
local sports teams and clubs along with representatives of the Red Cross,
the police, the fire brigade, the Coast Guard and two lifeboat services.
Oscar slept through the whole business unfortunately as he was a lot more
wakeful last night.

So a more traditional Paddy's day than most I've had, but family fun for the
four of us.

The four mighty Dungeon Squad heroes finished their quest for wagon wheels last night. ( Down the mines again... )

And blinking in the light, the four exited the abandoned dwarven mine victorious, with the four wheels they needed to get the caravan back on the road. Now it was time for ale and whores!

With thanks to fjm, ( my xmas stocking ). Leave me something you think I'll like.

I said recently that our gaming group's current run with Dungeon Squad would probably wrap up this session, as the bold adventurers push on into the depths of the dwarven mine to recover the stolen wheels from their caravan. Alas no, it was not so. Last night's session was almost entirely taken up with one big fight between our heroes and the goblin chief and his elite(-ish) guard.

( Adventuring behind the cut... )

So the group only cleared out a single room this week, but took out the goblin chief and the rest of his minions. The question now is: where are the remaining two wheels? And what is that eerie wind that blows along the branch of the corridor they haven't explored yet? And how did P'ing, the 1/16th Orc warrior woman ever get that dwarven helm to fit on her head?

I tried that language test nhw posted a link to.

( Speak up! )

Not bad for a physicist (and one far less interested in languages than ex-physicist nhw).

While visiting my mother we have happened to coincide with a street party
organised by local families for residents. The centerpiece of this party is
a bouncy castle, which has captivated and commanded my daughter's attention
practically to the exclusion of everything else (though drawing on the road
with chalks has made a showing late in the day).

By now, however, the many, many children are losing steam and balance, and
the collisions on the bouncy castle are becoming more frequent. I think it's
time to wind down but I suspect this is one of those times when we lack a
workable exit strategy.

Oh well. At least she should sleep well tonight.

We're all out in Fitzgerald Park in the sunshine having a picnic. May ends with a real taste of summer -- the park is full of people, slow with sunshine and the day's end, sitting or lying out in t-shirts and smiles.

Sliced carrot and hummus disappear and I'm smiling too. Rowan has headed off to hide in some bushy tree. Or is it a tree-like bush?

It's positively warm here now, tucked out of the breeze, and a perfect end to an otherwise rain-soaked and chilly month.

Hello summer!